See you later!
by magic-wings-forever
Summary: Max and Fang used to be best friends. Yeah, they fight a lot, but they have a 10 year friendship. UNTIL... Max has to move across the country. What will happen when she comes backs home to go to high school and find Lissa with Fang?
1. Chapter 1 Leaving Home

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM RIDE. THERE'S NO WAY IN HECK I CAN DREAM UP OF SUCH A CREATIVE SERIES.  
>Chapter 1-Leaving Home<strong>

Fang/James's POV (6 years ago)

Numb with shock, I slowly looked up into Maxi's tear-filled eyes. Wow, that sounds cliché. But don't blame me-I lost my best friend that day 7 long years ago. Anyways… back to memory lane….

"Maxi, you can't go! Stay here with me and Iggy and Nudge and Gazzy!"

"James, I'm really sorry! I can't believe…" Maxi's voice cracked. "I can't believe Daddy died. And you know I'll leave Angel."

"MAX! We have to go now honey! The plane to Oceanside won't wait! Say bye to James and let's go!" Dr. M shouted from the car.

"Wait. Maxi, you're leaving today?" I asked nervously. Maxi just whimpered and nodded slowly. "Oh Maxi." I felt my heart break and gently pulled her into a hug. That's when Max completely broke down and started bawling into my shoulder. "Shhhhh… It's okay." I tried to comfort her. "I won't ever, ever forget you." Max sniffled.

"MAX! We have to _go_! 1 minute more and then I'M LEAVING!"

Max slowly lifted her head. I almost started crying myself when I saw her face. She looked so _helpless. _Maxi is the toughest and strongest girl I know. I've only seen her cry twice even though we've been friends since birth for more than 9 years. Maxi didn't cry when her real mom Brigid slapped her in the face and swore at her after Mr. Jeb and Brigid got divorced. She didn't even cry when she was climbing the tree in my backyard and fell. (This, in case you were wondering, resulted in 5 leg bone fractures and 1 broken arm.) Sure, we fight all the time (understatement of the century) but no one knows more about me than Maxi. I'd seen that face every day of my life. I had seen it filthy with caked-on dirt from digging around in the forest, bruised after accidently tripping onto a briar patch, laughing at my jokes, snarling at our enemies, sleeping peacefully at our sleepovers, telling lies with total sincerity to get away with cookie stealing, looking down at him with light in her eyes, that communication between them…

Suddenly, I remembered something. My bracelet! More specifically, the thick black bracelet that I spent hours making last night. I even got Mom to sew in Dad's old Air Force wings on the side.* I don't even know why I made it. Intuition that my best friend since birth is leaving I guess?

I carefully took it off and tied it on Maxi's small wrist. "Here, Maxi! Don't forget to wear it next year when you're graduating 5th grade at your new school! I'll be thinking of you the entire time." I tried to smile through my tears that were about to fall. "I bet you'll be surfing like a pro next time I see you. Go enjoy California for me!"

"MAXIMUM ARTEMIS RIDE!" Dr. M screamed one last time from the car.

"Bye James. I'll miss you." Maxi wiggled out of my bear hug and ran outside to her mom's white convertible.

That's when I stopped repeating my "STAY STRONG. DON'T CRY. STAY STRONG. DON'T CRY." mantra and let all my tears drop. I already missed her and she hasn't even been gone 5 minutes. How was I going to last summer and 5th grade? I don't even know when or_ if _she's coming back. Who was I supposed to tell everything to now? Who was gonna be my best friend, my supporter, and my partner in crime?

Max POV

I kept staring at Fang's house until we turned the corner. I still can't believe my life is completely destroyed! My dad died trying to save someone in the lab he was working in during Hurricane Katrina. He was gone all the time and I barely even see him at home… but he's still my dad. Stupid hurricane. Stupid scientists who have to go to New Orleans for work. Ughhhh. Why is this happening? Now we're literally moving across the country to Oceanside, California. Home of conceited, mean, annoying, and shallow people. The exact opposite of Paradise Falls, Michigan. And the killer thing is, I have no one to complain to or cry on since I left Fang. Fang was my right-hand man, my best friend, the one who always, always had my back. He'd die to save me, and I won't hesitate to throw myself in a front of a train for him. I ended up sobbing to myself in the car to the airport with Angel leaning against my shoulder.

**YAY! I'm finally done with my first ever chapter in my first ever story on fanfiction! ****J **

**1-I know this is supposed to be Fang's memory but I need Max's point of view too.  
>2-I stopped myself from swearing in this chapter (no promises on the future chapters ;) because Fang and Max are only 10 years old in 4th grade.<br>3-Fang is James. He changed his name later. I don't know why yet.  
>4-The wings in the bracelet are like the wings that pilots wear on planes. I have no clue if the Air Force actually has that.<strong>  
><strong>5-Read my brother's fanfiction too pweez? = SHAMELESS ADVERTISING RIGHT THERE. The title is Artemis Fowl: The Devil. Look under Author Inkblot98's stories. It's his first one too.<br>READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! :D **

**Magic-Wings-Forever (Tina)**


	2. Chapter 2 Paradise Falls

**Chapter 2-Paradise Falls**

Max's POV (Present)

Finally! After 6 years in the sun, I moved back to Paradise Falls, Michigan where I was born. Mom got a job transfer to Michigan, so here we are now! She's a vet, and I guess the pets here are just dying to have her help. Hehe, get it? Dying? Oh, never mind. Mom is a really good vet, and we deserve to live in a big house (like the one we're living in now), but truth is, I miss California. The amazing beaches, the perfect weather, the awesome surfing, the sun, and of course my friends were hard to say goodbye to. Especially my sweet boyfriend Dylan. I was sobbing when we got to the airport to fly here. When we visited Aunt Kay, who never left this small town (population: 70,000, which is 100,000 less than Oceanside. _Sigh_.) she couldn't believe it was us at first. After all, we _did _change a lot in 6 years. Angel is now an adorable-read as: evil (which I taught her of course)- 8 year old, and I'm an awesome butt-kicking 16 year old. I'm really tan now, and my brown hair has light sunstreaks in it from surfing 24/7.

Sadly, tomorrow, instead of surfing, I will be going back to school. The only good thing is that the school year just started a week, so I don't have a lot to catch up on anything. Grrrrr. In fact, I have less than 10 minutes to get ready since I just woke up. Right now, I'm just lounging on my bed in my room, which is actually pretty cool. Of course, there's stuff all over the floor already. _A new record has been made by Maximum Artemis Martinez! She is now able to make a room look like a tornado hit it in less than 24 hours! Congratulations!_ I mean, what's not to love about the sky blue walls with random clouds floating around aimlessly. When I was in Cali, my friends and I made more than 1000 origami birds so I would remember them when I leave and hung them on my old bedroom ceiling. On every bird is a random memory, and the next chance I get, I'll hang them on my new ceiling. One entire side of my room is a huge window that looks out into a quiet forest. The window is perfect for Edward to come in and stalk me! Haha, just kidding. _Twilight_ annoys me.

"MAX! 5 more minutes and you have to leave for high school! Hurry up or else!" my loving mom shouted from downstairs. The high school at Paradise Falls is a small building compared to Oceanside HS. Then again, more than 10 times as many people go to OHS. I quickly threw on a white tank top and some cargo pants. See, I'm not one of those blond "I-heart-makeup-SQUEAL" airhead Barbies. More like an "I-don't-give-a-crap-about-what-I-wear" girl. I swiftly ran downstairs, skipping 2 steps at a time and darted into the warmly-lit dining room.

"Hi Max!" Angel smiled sweetly at me.

"Heyyy Devil." Don'tcha just_ adore_ the cute nickname? I love her so much. She was my baby, and I trained her to be tough as nails like me. I'm _such_ a good role model! She's getting ready for 2nd grade and I have to say, she looks pretty lovable in her white and pink sundress, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Huh, I wish _I'm _that excited for school. Her blond hair made her look like… well, like an angel.

Anyways, so I grabbed a slice of toast started heading to school.

-LINE BREAK-

"Good morning, Miss Martinez. Here is your schedule. Have a good day!" the perky office lady ushered me out of the room.

I glanced quickly at my schedule. Hmm, where the heck is Calc 1? I groaned. Would it hurt to give me a map of the school?

"Hey! You look lost," said a random guy who I just past wandering around. "Are you the new kid?"

"Okay, first of all kid, I have a name-Max. No 'new kid' crap. And yeah, that office lady didn't give me a map, and I'm looking for Sophomore Calc 1 with-" I checked my schedule, "Mr. Smith?" I looked at the guy. He had light blond hair that kind of fell across his forehead and bright tortoiseshell colored eyes. Not bad-looking either. "Who are you Blondie?"

Blondie grinned at me and murmured, "I'm Sam. I have Calc 1 too. Want me to walk you there?"

"Sure Blondie. Thanks." We walked toward the room.

_Oh, the joys of being in high school again._

**Drumroll… First, I wanna thank my awesome friend Bandgeekclarinet14 for the encouraging PM's! Go clarinets! Read her stories people! Also, shoutout for my beta Nemesis's Daughter! Love yah! :) **

**Ratherbereading125, Blindedbylife, , NinjaMack97, Inkblot98, and Potterfan98 thanks for putting me on your Story/Author alerts. And online cookies for the 80 of you people who read this from the US, England, Australia, and Canada. :) R&R you guys!**

**Magic-Wings-Forever (Tina)**


	3. Chapter 3 You Again?

**Thanks to Gracegg107  
>Nene M<br>FeelslikeFlying47  
>JezabelStrike<br>thewateryfiredrummer  
>LiveLaughandLoveForever<br>FanficfannafcifnaF  
>faxtothemax51799<br>maximumridefan111 for putting me on your favorite author/story list! **

**SPECIAL THANKS TO  
>faxtothemax51799<br>maximumridefan111  
>tweetybirdieee<br>knight mistress  
>Spread-Your-Wings<br>Amy Griffith for reviewing!**

**Chapter 3-You Again?**

Max POV

So...the horrors of high school begin again! In First Hour, I have Sophomore Calc1 with Blondie. Honestly, he's a perfect gentleman. Opening the doors for me, ladies first and all that other crap. _Sexixt piglet much? Pshaw, that one little door is SO hard to open!_ Sam is a really nice guy who hugs _everyone. _Right away, I can tell that the Queen Bee is probably Lissa, the rhymes-with-witchy redhead who is in half of my classes. Yay me! From now on, the subject "Lissa" will now be called Red-Haired Wonder, AKA RHW. I did not know that shirts can be _that _low cut. Just write 'slut' to your head than! She spent the entire First Hour whining to this guy up front who's probably another football player and practically shoving her chest into his face. Thanks _soo _much for that disturbing image RHW!

Next, I have AP Physics with Mrs. Paul and Mrs. Muldermans. Basically, they have the class together. And they're 2 of the nicest teachers I've ever met! Honestly, I hate school as much as the next person, but Mrs. Paul and Mrs. Muldermans actually make it fun. And they _get it. _I guess since they'r_e _really young, they understand the shizload of stuff we go through. "_Everyone has an ongoing battle everyday of their life. You don't know what they're going through. They might've just lost a parent, or a sibling, or a pet. Maybe it might be fun to tease someone because of their ugly clothes, but maybe their parents just lost their jobs. Don't make their burden harder." _Then right after all that deep stuff, we got back to physics and stuff. Well then. Big subject change much?

After an hour in Physics, I headed out to my next class, PE. According to Sam/Cute Blondie, we have soccer, which I LOVE. Soccer (read as:best sport ever!) is actually the main sport at this school instead of cliche football. I mean, guys in black shorts and cleats are wayyyy quicker than clunky guys with shoulder pads and skintight pants. Ick. You have to be quick and clever and smart with lightning fast reflexes to play soccer. Or maybe that's just me. Plus, running around kicking a ball around with the wind in your hair and tears in your eyes and your heart pumping like crazy with adredaline is always fun.

As I was heading to my locker, which is _of course_ on the other side of the school from AP Physics, a guy ran right into me and knocked me right off my feet. Not metaphorically. Meaning he actually knocked me down to the ground. I swore as all the books and notebooks scatter all over the crowded hallway. "Dude, watch where you walk!" I just got knocked to the ground by some idiot. GREAT. Now everyone in the school is going to think I'm some wimpy girl who can't take care of herself. Even though I'm a black belt in Taekwondo. Because of that person, my textbooks and pens and notebooks are over the place. Thank you."Are you all right?" the guy asked with concern while I'm picking up my crap. My blood ran cold. _Why does his voice sound so… familiar? _

"What does it look like?" I snapped coldly. He offered me a hand. I gathered up all my books and started glaring at him. This guy has dark swoopy hair and obsidian eyes. He has olive skin and wiry muscles that you can still see through a black t-shirt. Speaking of the black t-shirt, I think he's emo since he's wearing a black shirt, black jeans, black shoes, the works. Wow, that guy has sharp canine teeth. Like fangs. _Why can't I shake the feeling I know him? Who the heck is he?_

He gave a short gasp of recognition. Wtf?

"Max? Is that you?" he asked incredulously. Frankly, it takes a lot to surprise me. I'm pretty much unsurprisable. Is that even a word? _Unsurprisable? _Anyways, now I'm getting freaked out. What is he talking ab- hundreds of memories assaulted me. Playing soccer with dirt on our faces. Making pillow forts to hide behind. Pulling pranks on Iggy. Trying to cook food for our parents and flying. Pretending to have wings and flying. A jet black-haired kid I used to spend time with everyday 7 years ago. Holy [insert swear word of choice here].

"James?"

**A/N: I don't own Maximum Ride. **

**Anyways, so today I had the worst day, so I'm really sorry for this short filler chapter. I was running for president of Student Council and today was the election. Well, I loss by ONE F-ING VOTE. I was literally holding back tears as I went back to my classroom. Then, some dumbass kid KRISTI (who is a BOY, in case you're wondering) overheard me talking about it to my friends and CELEBRATED the fact i loss. Thankfully, my best friend Natalie started yelling at him. What REALLY sucks is that almost 70 people didn't vote in 2 classes, and of course the teachers there forgot to hand out the ballots. AND those classes have my best friends in it. I was sobbing on the way home. Thanks Natalie, Kayla, Rachel, Cristina, Julia, Kristine and CJ for supporting me. AND YOU TOO ALICE! (nemisis' daughter). A LOT of people said they voted for me, and they made me smile. But today has been a pretty crappy day. Well, I hope you guys who read this are having a good day. Review :)**


	4. Chapter 4 Fang

**Thanks to You'veBeenNinja'd  
>MaximumRideFanAddict<br>xXxlamProbablyJustPlottingxXx  
>Wingsthatfly<br>boxtoplad999  
>Black Hawk1234<br>fangs girl17  
>ssSteve for putting me on your favorite authorstory list!**

**Special thanks to gleeker67  
>SilverStar121<br>boxtoplad999  
>Random Dude At Your Service (Thanks for the AMAZING REVIEW! You made my day :)<br>Black Hawk1234 for reviewing! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! :D **

**So... Here's the next chapter!**

**Chapter 4-Fang**

Max POV

I feel numb again, like right after I moved away. Of course, I didn't think I'd see him again, but in my mind whenever I get homesick of Paradise Falls and think of James, I had always planned on a cool, casual "Yo? Wha's happ'nin'?" But that dream was gone, gone, gone, baby. Instead, I leaped up and ran into his arms. We smashed together awkwardly. At first, James was standing stiff, but then his arms slowly came around me, and he hugged me back.

"Holy crap, I can't believe that's you James." I mumbled into his shoulder. I clung to him tight, trying to swallow the lump of cotton in my throat, my head on his shoulder, my eyes squeezed tight as I breathe in his woodsy outdoor-cologne scent.

"Max, you came back." James's voice sounded un-Jameslike and broken. His hand was making slow, warm circles between my shoulder blades like he used to do, and I don't trust myself to speak. And just like that, a shard of ice that had been in my heart that I don't even know was there melted and disappeared, and I felt myself relax. I don't know how we stood there hugging in the middle of the hallway, but it felt like only a second before the stupid warning bell rang and made us jump apart. I smiled up at him. The last time I saw him, he used to be shorter than me, but now James had shot up.

"It's only your first day back, and you're going to be late for class? Tsk tsk," smirked James.

"Who knocked who over?" I shot back. I started running back to my locker. James easily kept up my pace. I got there, threw my books inside, and slammed it.

"Woah, tiger. Easy on the locker." James teased.

I gave him a quick smile. "Where's PE?"

"That's your next class? I have it with you. Race you there!" With that, James started sprinting the other way. I grinned as I followed him through the school.

LINE BREAK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :D

James POV

Wow, I can't believe Max is back. She was my best friend/partner in crime from 6 years ago. I wonder if she still remembers every prank we pulled on Iggy, and all the ridiculous plans we came up with. Good times, good times. At first, I couldn't believe it was Max. She really, really changed if you know what I mean. She used to be really scrawny but fast. I'm not sure if she's still fast, but in elementary, she would beat everyone (except me of course) in a race. And she was really proud of that fact. Now, her hair has cool blond streaks in it from the sun. I wonder if she has a boyfriend… NO! BAD JAMES! She's your _best friend _that's only been back for less than a week, and you're already thinking about that? She's going to be really ticked when she finds out you're being so… protective. Yeah, protective like a brother. Nothing else.

Right now, Coach Anne is lecturing us about soccer while everyone is sitting/laying in the field. Well, she's mostly lecturing Max since she's new. Coach Anne is pretty young, maybe like in her early 30s, but she's as strict as hell. Our soccer team is amazing, by the way. Paradise Panthers FTW! I'm center forward/striker, and Iggy is right wing forward. From what I remember, I'm pretty sure Max was left wing forward.

"Max is back, I see. Stop gazing with lovesick eyes at her or you're gonna get it from Lissa," warned Iggy who was laying next to me. "Maybe now, you won't be emo anymore."

"I'm not emo Iggy. And Lissa isn't my girlfriend!" I hissed back as Coach Anne glares at me.

Iggy chuckled. "Well, what do you call someone who shoves her chest into you every time you come in a 5 foot-radius from her?"

"A slut?" I said obviously. I fingered the wolf fang I found once in the forest a long time ago with Max.

"James, Coach Anne's almost done! Let's go!"Iggy shouted. Max loped over and pulled me up. Let the games begin!

Max POV

I lay panting in the grass after Coach Anne let us stop our scrimmage. That was brutal! I thought I was fit from surfing all day in Cali, but this is on a whole other level. James came over and looked down at me, hardly sweating. "How can you not be dying? My legs are jelly!"

"Um, maybe because I didn't try to outrun the entire class during the match?" James answered sarcastically. "You were practically flying compared to the other mere mortals. But you must have patience before you can ever think about catching up to my level of awesomeness, young grasshopper."

I scowled. Logic is so annoying sometimes! "Help me up!" I demanded, holding up my arms. James, being the nice gentleman he is, grabbed one of my hands and yanked me hard onto his shoulder into a fireman's hold.

I shrieked and wiggled around. "Let me down James!" I kicked hard him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. James dropped to the ground and brought me down with him. I landed on my back on the ground next to him. As James fell, I caught a glimpse of bright white as his necklace tumbled out of his shirt.

"What's that?" I pointed at the fang. James smirked and showed me the sharp wolf fang.

"Remember this?" he said quietly. "We were in the forest one day, hiding from our Moms, and then you found this. I think it was close to my birthday, and that's why you let me keep this. You used to call me Fang every day after that because, quote on quote, 'it looks like jewelry that you are in love with!'"

"Ohhh, I remember now! What do you mean _used to_ Fang?" I grinned cheekily at him. "C'mon, it's time to go to Writing with Mrs. Bruncari for me. What's your next class Fangles?"

"Social Studies for me, right next to Writing. I'll walk you there." _Fang _replied. We started strolling toward our next classes when…

**A/N: Hi people! :) Ooh, cliffhanger! Cookies to whoever can guess it! Even though you guys probably already figured this out, let me just say that Fang is James. I KNOW that in the books, James was Iggy, but when I was planning this story, I didn't remember that. Instead, I was thinking of James Potter (POTTERHEADS FTW!) since he has dark scruffy hair like Fang. Yeah, I know he looks nothing like him, but there you go. BTW, yes, I do have a Pottermore-SilverIce65. Hope you guys are having a great time in school! And if you're having a crappy day, remember that someone in this world loves you and don't be afraid to PM me. Wow, that was cheesy. R&R!**


	5. Chapter 5 Breakup

**Thanks to Spread-Your-Wings  
>ThatGirlAllys<br>XxXxXxILuvNicoDiAngeloxXxXxX  
>Anna Ride<br>Fangirl092  
>RiseToTheSkies<br>Young Rider  
>Sarabi9<br>and Random Dude At Your Service  
>for putting me on their favorite storyauthor list!**

**Special thanks to Spread-Your-Wings  
>Xx-ThisSucks-xX<br>maximumridefan111  
>SilverStar121<br>boxtoplad999  
>Black Hawk1234<br>fangs girl17  
>and Random Dude At Your Service for reviewing! Love you guys!<br>**  
>Chapter 5-Breakup<p>

Max POV

…My phone vibrated in my pocket. Instantly, I stopped talking to Fang and looked around anxiously to see if there are patrolling teachers in the hallway.

"What's wrong?" Fang glanced down at me.

"Phone." I whispered briefly. My school has really strict rules about phones. Meaning if we're caught with them on and texting, we get automatic detentions. Quickly I took my phone out. A text from Dylan! I smiled and clicked on it. Fang gawked at my phone.

"Who's Dylan?" he asked. I looked up at him. His jaw tightened imperceptibly, and his eyes look like they got darker. What's going on?"

"My boyfriend from Cali." The text finally finished loading since it was so long.

"hey babe! heres the thing… i think we should break up. long distance isnt really working out for me, and i know im mr perfect to you and all… but yeah. better tell you now then hear it from… well someone else. we can still stay friends you know. Bye."

I stared blankly at the bright phone screen. _What? Dylan… is breaking up with me? How is this happening?_

"Max. He didn't deserve you anyways." Fang nudged me. "Put your phone away." He said gently. I slowly slid my phone in my pocket. Fang pulled me into a warm hug. "You wanna talk about it?"

I shook my head. "It's fine. I can't believe that dickhead did that, but I'm fine." I slid out of his hug, shuffled to my locker and grabbed my stuff for Writing. "I'm going to class."

Fang POV

I looked at Max heading to her next class. I'm going to beat up that stupid bastard if he ever comes to Michigan! He made my strong Maxi sad and he's going to DIE.

-DURING LUNCH AFTER WRITING/SOCIAL STUDIES

I sat down with Iggy and Nudge, waiting for Max. Finally, I saw her across the cafeteria. She looks really pissed off. Hmm, wonder why? I waved at her and she strolled toward me.

"Hey Max. Feeling better?" I asked.

"Yup. I wanna punch his face in, but I'm fine."

I chuckled. "Attagirl Max!" Max looked at Iggy and Nudge.

"Who're these people?"

Iggy clutched his heart in mock sadness. "You don't remember me, dear Maxi? The butt of your pranks? The love of your life?" He grinned at her. "C'mon, THINK Maxi! Even though you have a limited amount of brain cells…

Recognition flashed in Max's eyes and she punched Iggy hard on the shoulder. "IGGY! I should've known it was you! How has your life been these 6 years?"

Iggy sighed. "Very boring and pain-free from pranks. I really did miss you though. You know who _really _missed you and pined for you? F-" I quickly covered up his traitor mouth. It's true, I did really miss Max, but did he have to announce it?

I gestured at the mocha-skinned girl sitting across from me. "And this is Nudge, Iggy's girlfriend."

Nudge looked like she was about to burst since she wanted to talk so much. "ZOMG MAX I FINALLY GET TO MEET YOU! James talks about you all the time! ZOMG, how's California? Is it hot there? Did you see any cool celebrities? Did you learn how to surf? I bet it was awesome there! I can't wait till it snows in Michigan though! I love snow! We made snow castles and igloos and we skated and sledded and…"

Max's eyes were huge with surprise. Oops, I forgot to tell her about the Nudge Channel-Nudge talking and talking and talking 24/7.

"Nudge can talk. A lot. Really fast." Max whispered to me. Nudge was still going on and on. I think she's talking about moose and wolverines now. Hmmm.

"Really, Captain Obvious? How observant of you." I whispered back sarcastically.

"I know right, Lieutenant Sarcasm?" Max retorted back.

After several minutes of Nudge talking and everyone ignoring her except Iggy, Max finally couldn't take it anymore and shouted, "THANKS FOR THE LOVELY INFORMATION ABOUT DEADMUA5 NUDGE! I love you, but you have to work on that motormouth of yours!"

Nudge smiled bashfully and nodded. "Sorry Max. I love you too! Even though I just met you 5 minutes ago. I guess it's love at first sight! Like Snow White and Cinder-"

"Wow Fang, I wonder why Lissy isn't coming over to steal you away from us humble people?" Iggy interrupted loudly.

"Speak of the devil," I complained as I see Lissa (THE DEVIL) saunter up to our table.

"WHAT? You're friends with Lissa, the RHW?" Max whispered incredulously. And, speaking as a completely objective third party observer with absolutely no personal interest in the matter, dear Max is looking a little murderous and jealous. Well, protective, not jealous. She glared at Lissa.

"Hi James! Why aren't you sitting at our awesome table? " Lissa pouted and stuck her chest out. "We miss you so much there!" She glanced around at Max, Nudge, and Iggy. "Ew, why would you want to sit with these losers anyways?"

Max looked like she's about to punch Lissa's eyes out. "Excuse me?" She said quietly and viciously at Lissa. "I don't even _know _you and you're already being a bitch?"

I put my hand on Max's arm to stop her from jumping up and beating the crap out of Lissa. "Lissa, I don't know why you are even here. For the last thousandth time, I DON'T WANT TO SIT AT YOUR STUPID TABLE with your shallow vituperative friends. And for the record, you're the loser, not Max or Nudge or Iggy. Please leave. _Now._" Lissa finally went away in a huff.

"Good riddance, right Max?" I smirked at her. She still looked like she was about to assassinate Lissa. "Like I said, I hate that bitch and she's annoying. You guys are my _real _friends. I would choose you guys over her any day."

Iggy looked at me in shock. Huh? What's going on? "YOU'RE SPEAKING IN FULL SENTENCES AND USING BIG FANCY WORDS LIKE 'VITUPERATIVE'! THE END IS NIGH!" he screamed dramatically.

Max and Nudge chuckled. "That's how he always talks, Iggy," she pointed out.

Iggy shook his head. "No, Fangles _never_ talks that much. He's pretty emo, I believe." I swatted at his arm and knocked his food out of his hand. "MANNERS, FANGLES! Anyways, he's been like this ever since you left 6 years ago. It's because he's in l-" I slapped my hand in front of his mouth _again. _Max looked at me curiously.

"He's deeply in what? In luck?" Max said confusedly.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." I muttered. The bell loudly rang for the next class. Max gave me a high-five and ran to her locker with Nudge. Iggy sidled up to me.

"Dude, when are you going to declare your deep profound love to Max?" Iggy asked.

"What are you talking about? I don't love her. She's practically my sister. How do you know?" I asked, surprised.

Iggy snorted. "It was obvious. You stared at her the entire lunch period and talked in complete sentences! Plus, I'm pretty sure you liked her, even in 4th grade."

"I don't love her!" I argued, starting to blush.

"Then why are you blushing? Just ask her out!"

I sighed at naïve ridiculous Iggy. "And destroy our friendship? No."

Iggy gasped. "So you _do _love her! Fang is in love with Max!"

I pushed the idiot against a locker. "Tell everyone, why don'tcha! I don't want to destroy our friendship! I love her like a _sister. _Nothing else."

Iggy looked at me. "Tsk tsk tsk. Keep telling yourself that Fang. Even Nudge told me you guys would make a cute couple. Just ask her out before Sam. That's all I'm warning you."

The final bell rang. Oh shit, I'm late for class! I punched Iggy one last time and dashed away to class.

**A/N: So Fangles is denial! :) How cutee… Having a pretty good week at school. Some of you guys kinda predicted right. Lol, I hope the beginning was a surprise! **

**On a more personal note… Hey guys, for NJHS (National Junior Honor Society), we have to go on a field trip. Problem is, it's $545 and I have to other brothers that want to go. We're going to Washington DC and MAYBE a tour at the White House. Should I go? OR should I go to Florida and Disney in the summer? Hmmm… **

**WHO'S GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING? I AM! :D **

**R&R. Love you guys!**


	6. Chapter 6 Torture

**Thanks to violetdemon  
>The-Girl-With-The-Black-Wings<br>Spread-Your-Wigs s  
>ammencor<br>LupoLunaMoon  
>Fly On Maximum Taylor Ride<br>Silver M.11  
>niwet<br>i luhv haterz  
>Diana16686<br>chica whos a chocoholic  
>and fanficsrock11 for putting me on their favorite storyauthor list!**

**Special Thanks to maximumridefan111  
>MaximumRideFanAddict<br>Spread-Your-Wings  
>LupoLunaMoon<br>Fanfiction Critic (Whoever you are, thanks for the advice! I love you, and don't be an anon! Sorry I didn't work harder on this chapter for you, but I don't have a lot of time on my hands right now. I promise to do better next week!)  
>boxtoplad999<br>Blackhawk1234  
>Fanficsrock11 for reviewing!<strong>

Chapter 6-Torture

Max POV

After school, Fang, Iggy and I walked home together. Well, Iggy walked, complaining about the injustice of it all. Fang and I raced back to my house. I'm a pretty fast runner (fastest runner in Oceanside!), but Fang kept up with me somehow. Iggy was far, far, far behind us now. When Angel and I moved back to Paradise Falls, we moved back into the same house. (A/N I've never moved before, so I don't know how that works…) Meaning I have Fang and Iggy as next-door-neighbors. Yay for me!

When we neared my house, I put on an extra burst of speed and nearly ran into Angel, who was just coming out of her friends' car. How she made friends so fast, I will never guess.

"Hi Max!" Angel/Devil said with her cute little-girl smile. "How was your day?"

"Great." I ruffled her hair. "So how are you liking 3rd grade?"

Fang caught up to us, and lifted an eyebrow, as if saying, "Who is this adorable yet evil but still cute child?" Well, maybe not with that much adjectives, but pretty darn close. I'm glad our communicating-with-no-words thingy didn't die out in the 6 years.

"I love my teacher! Mrs. Z is the nicest teacher I've ever had!" Angel started at Fang. "Do you already have a boyfriend in this town Max? What about Dylan?" she said bluntly.

I started blush. "Ange, he's not my boyfriend." I can practically feel Fang smirking at me. "Plus, Dylan broke up with me."

"Aww, you guys were such a cute couple though! I'll beat him up when I see him again." Angel promised. Aww, I'm teaching her so well! "I'm sorry Maxi. I know you really like him."

I shrugged. "Eh, you win some, you lose some." No need to tell Angel about my heart breaking and all that jazz. Fang cleared his throat. "Oh yeah! This is Fa-, I mean, James. Remember Ange? You were only 2ish, but when we used to live here, James was my best friend." I introduced.

Angel concentrated hard and thought. "I think I sorta kinda remember. Isn't he the one with the fang?"

Fang snorted and I whacked him subtly. "Yup, that's him."

Iggy finally caught up to us and yelled, "_SOME _people should've slowed down and remember I have a shi-" I elbowed him hard, glaring at Iggy and gesturing toward Angel. "-zzle of homework in my backpack." Iggy finished weakly.

"Remember Iggy?" I asked Ange.

"I think. He was that one other guy! What does shizzle mean?" Angel said curiously.

"Nothing at all. NOTHING." I answered, glaring at Iggy again. "C'mon, let's go inside the house now since King Iggy has arrived."

…^WOW~THAT~SUCKED~SORRY~FOR~THE~WORST~FILLER~EVER…

Fang, Iggy and I were discussing the good old days and pigging out on Cherry Garcia (A/N: LOVE THAT ICE CREAM!) when suddenly, my phone rang loudly. "_All my life I've been good, but now, whoaa thinking WHAT, THE HELL..." _(A/N: stinking song's been stuck in my head all day. We were on the warm fuzzy carpet of my room, and my phone is at the other side of the room. So, of course, I kicked Fang and ordered him to get it. Fangles grumbled a little bit about being my servant, but he got up, grabbed my phone, and chucked it hard at me. With my amazing ninja skills, I snatched my phone out of the air and answered the call.

"Who is this?" I demanded.

"Heyy Max! It's Sam."

Fang and Iggy were staring at me with curiosity. "It's Sam." I mouthed. Iggy went back to his ice cream, but Fang's jaw tightened infinitesimally. Oookay?

"Oh hi Blondie! What's up?" I answered.

"Not much… hey, they're showing Dream House at the MJR theater tonight. Um… doyouwannagotothemoviewithme?" Sam blurted quickly.

Oh crap. I was gonna see that with Fang and Iggy. "Wait really quick Sam. 2 seconds, that's all I''ll take, I swear."

"Whaa's going on?" Iggy inquired with his mouth full of delicious Cherry Garcia ice cream. Fang gazed at me.

My heart pounded. "You know Sam? Blondie? He… kinda… sorta… asked me out to see Dream House."

"ZOMG seriously Max?" Iggy shouted. Hmm, looks like Nudge is definitely rubbing off on him. Fang's face is just an emotionless mask.

I nodded. "Do you guys still wanna see that together?"

Iggy shook his head furiously. "Wait! Let me call Nudge! Maybe we can double date!" He quickly speed-dialed Nudge's number. Nudge picked up on the first ring.

"HI IGGY! What's up babe?"

"Nudge, you can never believe it, but Max got asked out by Sam!"

"ZOMG REALLY?"

"Hi Nudge," I interrupted. "Yeah, I got asked out by Blondie and he wants to see Dream House tonight. Do you guys wanna come?"

"HECK YEAH!" Nudge screamed over the phone. Very loudly. Loud enough for Sam to hear even with me covering up the mouthpiece.

"What's going on?" Sam asked politely.

"Nothing. And sure."

"Great! I'll see you then Max!" Sam said enthusiastically.

"Mmkay. Hey, is it okay if Nudge and Iggy and Fang comes?" Fang raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I don't care. Bye!" With that, Sam hung up.

I flopped down on my bed, breathing hard, heart going 100 beats per minute. I can't believe I got asked out already! And it's only my first day here!

"Wow, looks like you're Ms. Popular already." Fang said sarcastically.

"I guess I'm just that awesome." I joked back. Iggy is still talking to Nudge.

Fang snorted. "Why am I going anyways?"

"Because you're my BFFL!" I retorted sardonically.

The doorbell rang downstairs. But it's too early to be Sam… who is it?

I heard Angel run downstairs and open the door. "HI MAX FANG AND IGGY!" Nudge, the new arrival, screamed from downstairs.

Angel and Nudge both ran upstairs to my room. Oh no. Nudge's eyes were sparkling with devilish happiness. "MAKEOVER TIME!" Nudge and Angel chorused. Nudge was holding a whole back of what looked like torture devices and clothes. "GET OUT." Nudge ordered Fang and Iggy.

Iggy saluted Nudge. "Yes sir!" He tugged on Fang's arm. "C'mon, let's go to my house and make bombs!" Fang rolled his eyes.

After Iggy pulled the unwilling Fang downstairs, Nudge slammed the door shut.

I tried to protest. Key word:TRIED. But that Nudge and Angel/Devil are forces of nature. "LET'S START!" Nudge shouted happily!

-SORRYitSUCKSI''mHURRYINGtoGETthisUP-

2 hours later…

Nudge and Angel dragged me into the bathroom. The person in the mirror looks pretty. And… holy crap, it's me!

"Wow. I actually look good!" I said disbelievingly. Nudge had forced me into a sky blue lacy tank top. I had a ripped jean jacket over it, and then a flowery short skirt on the bottom. While Nudge had happily picked out my outfit, Angel had curled my brown hair so it hung down my back in little ringlets. Gahh! Why am I even _saying_ the word 'ringlets'? Nudge had put a little eyeliner and mascara on me so my eyes would 'pop out' (her words, not mine) and gave me some lip gloss to wear.

Angel and Nudge giggled. I can tell they are going to be great friends over this fun bonding experience of torturing me/dressing me up for my date.

Angel signed. "You look amazing Max! Sam is gonna love you!"

I smiled at my reflection. "Thanks you guys. I really mean it. Even though that was the most boring hours of my life," (Nudge swatted at me) "you actually made me look good.

The doorbell rang downstairs...

**A/N: Hi you guys! Sorry this is kinda hurried. I'm trying to get this up (I update every Tuesday or Sunday) as soon as possible, so that's why it sucks. Plus, we had the MEAPs today (Michigan testing) and it was boring as heck. **

**I _might _get a deviantart. It depends on how much time I have. If I do, I'll draw Max with her date outfit and put that up. I'm not sure though since it would be a lot of work to set one up and stuff. I'm okay at drawing I guess. Comments?**

**So... what do you guys think will happen next? Lol, obviously the date. But I have nothing planned (yet) so I'll take suggestions about what's gonna happen! **

**R&R! Again, sorry for the terrible chapter this week. Love you guys! **


	7. Chapter 7 Lakeside Creek

**I don't own Maximum Ride OR Dream House.**

**Thanks to WiseGirl87  
>AEspirit1011<br>Max Ride9  
>Poseidon's daughter with wings<br>DaughterofWolf  
>and whocares1313 for putting me on their favorite storyauthor list!**

**Special Thanks to  
>faxtothemax51799 (love your idea lmao :D)<br>Random Dude (I'll try to work it in somehow... count on it!)  
>Bandgeekclarinet14 (KEEP READING KENZI! AND UPDATE!)<br>Spread-Your-Wings-Wide (Thanks :)  
>Max Ride9 (Thanks :)<br>Lucyintheskywithdiamonds (Might happenn...)  
>and Poseidon's daughter with wings (Thanks :) for reviewing!<strong>

Chapter 7-Lakeside Creek

Fang POV

I opened the door to Max's house with Iggy. I heard shouts (and screams) coming from upstairs. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Max, Nudge, and Angel came downstairs. I held in a gasp.

_Holy. CRAP. _Max looks amazing. She has this happy GLOW to her that's practically blinding me. God, I hate Sam.

"Nice job Nudge! She actually looks like a hot _girl_ now!" Iggy wolf-whistled. I elbowed him.

"Sexist pig," Max retorted. "_This one's for you and me, living out our dreams…" _rang her cell phone.

"Change that stupid ringtone." I grumbled. Max stuck her tongue out at me and answered the phone. (A/N: No offense to who likes this song. I love it too, but remember Fang's a little ticked at the moment.)

"Hi Sam!" she said excitedly.

"Hi Max! I'm a crazy idiot who is stupid to think that I can ever date the awesome Maximum Ride. I'll jump off a cliff now!" responded Sam. Well, not really. Probably along those lines though. I can't hear what he said since it's not speaker phone.

Max's smiling expression suddenly turned miserable. "What? Are you serious? Um, I mean, it's fine. Honestly, it's fine Sam." She paused for a second. "Who's giggling?" Sam said something ineligible. "Oh. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up.

"His family is having a special dinner. He can't go to the date. But he said he'll be happy to take me to see Footloose another time." She said expressionlessly. "I know it was too good to be true anyways." My heart gave a leap of happiness. Yay! The wiener isn't coming! Nudge walked to her and hugged her carefully because of the makeup and stuff.

"Oh well Max," Nudge comforted her. "Let's just go to MJR anyways! It'll make you forget all about stupid Sam. Plus Fang told me you loved horror movies! Dream House sounds really good. AND I worked on you way too hard for you NOT to go! Fang's mom can drive us." Max managed a small smile.

"Thanks guys. C'mon, let's go then." Max said.

"WAIT!" Nudge screamed. She viciously grabbed me by the arm. "Fang can be your date! You're wayyy too pretty NOT to have a date!"Nudge glared at me murderously. "Right, Fang? You would _love_ to take your dear friend Max to the movies, right?"

Max just shrugged. "We'll just go as friends. Besides, that's like going on a date with my nonexistent gay brother."

I winced. "You just had to add that last part, dontcha?" Max grinned at me. Nudge, Iggy, Max and I started walking over to my house so I can get my mom to get us to the movies.

...(a/n: the movie theater they're going to is part of an outdoor mall like the ones they have near my house)

"So Max, how was California? Did you have a boyfriend?" my mom winked into the rearview window while looking at said Max. Um, AWKWARD TURTLE. Mom was really excited that the Rides back too. She was making casual conversation with Max during the entire car ride. FINALLY, we got to the movie theater. "Bye you guys!" Mom sang out as we left the car.

"Bye Mrs. Kelly!" We started to walk toward the MJR theater. Once we got there, we paid for our tickets and popcorn and went inside the dark room. For a second there, I _thought_ I saw a flash of red hair with a blonde but I dismissed it. I mean, who can it be? Lissa and Sam? That's stupid. We picked our spots in the middle and sat down. Well, me and Max sat down next to each other. Nudge basically sat on Iggy's lap and started making out with him. Ick.

Max was hogging the popcorn, like she used to. So of course, being the perfect gentleman I am, I quickly got a piece and threw it into her beautiful, silky hair. Er, I mean her hair. None of that other stuff. As a result, Max got a whole handful of popcorn and threw it at me.

"Hey! No throwing popcorn!" I yelled at her.

"You _started_ it though!" Max pouted. Obviously, the next couple of minutes were spent throwing popcorn and teasing each other until the movie started. "SHUT UP! THE MOVIE'S STARTING!" Max roared/whispered at me.

**A/N: *SPOILER ALERT FOR THE MOVIE DREAM HOUSE! SKIP TO NEXT CHAPTER IF YOU DON'T WANNA READ IT!***

In the movie, there's this guy, Peter, who is insane. He got shot in the head before in a robbery attempt or something. His wife and kids died from said robbery attempt. Anyways, so he went back to his house and made up a fake world where his family were fine. In his lala world, his name is Will. In his fake world, he discovers that his family died, and he researched who did it. He somehow realize that he, PETER, the REAL Peter had kill his family. Later, you realize that Peter was framed for the murder.

***END OF SPOILER.***

Anyways. It was confusing as hell. There were a lot of twists and Max, who was leaning against my shoulder, was asking me what's happening like every 10 seconds. I did not get it at all. Just saying. The people behind us were screaming because of the blood (I think?) and shushing us during the entire movie since we were talking so much. I'm pretty sure Nudge and Iggy understood it since Nudge was screaming in all the right places and Iggy was comforting her.

At one point, Max just started randomly laughing. And laughing. And laughing. I was clueless at what's going on, until she pointed out the idiotic look on one of the actors' faces. The person sitting in front of us looked like he was about to murder us since we're interrupting the peace or whatever. Meanwhile, everyone was terrified and Max was hysterical. Lovely.

Finally, after 92 minutes, the movie was over and we all filed out of the movie theater.

"ZOMG! That was the most scariest movie I've even see in my life! It was really confuzzling though! But it was really scary. I can't believe he was framed! No, wait. Paranormal Activity 3 is THE most scariest. This one is kinda scary. Hey! Who wants to go shopping?" I said in one breath when we left the movie theater. Heh, got you there, didn't I? That was actually Nudge that was talking, believe it or not.

"Um, what about NO Nudge." Max suggested. "Shopping is a complete waste of time." She stared pointedly at Nudge.

But Nudge is an unstoppable force of nature. She started to drag Max toward Pink. Max quickly wriggled out of her tight grip and hid behind me. "Fang, protect me from Nudge!" she demanded.

I sighed. "Guys, let's stop torturing Max and just walk around."

"What an excellent idea, Fangles!"

For the next hour, we strolled around the mall. Nudge kept on trying to push Max into different girly stores but my brave Max is too quick for tiny naïve Nudge. During that time, Max and I finally caught up on our tease-Iggy-and-pull-pranks-on-him-until-he-begs-for-mercy 6-year quota. We did all our usual stuff, like tripping him, the age-old 'Kick Me' sign (Max and I had secretly made special ones with glitter all over it), scooping him, tazing him… But we also did our specialty moves. Max made a distraction while I sneakily bought some ice cubes from Starbucks, and I quickly dropped 20 down Iggy's shirt. Plus, I bought dark coffee and secretly poured black food coloring in it so that Iggy has black teeth. We also used PERMENANT markers to draw on his face while _Nudge_ distracts him with kisses and stuff. Good times, good times. All in all, the flock (Max was insistent on that stupid nickname for the four of us since her favorite animal is the hawk) had a great time at Lakeside Creek.

When my mom came to pick us up, Max was really pissed about leaving and she was _this _close to charging to the outdoorsy store and buying a tent so she can spend the night at the mall. It took a while to convince her that she has to go home. Three words-dumbbutt school tomorrow.

Mom dropped off Iggy and Nudge at their house, and then drove me and Max back to my house. Mom winked at me and quickly darted into the house, leaving me and Max outside on the porch. Honestly, it was awkward for a while.

"I had a great time today Fang. It's nice to hang out with you again." Max said awkwardly. Suddenly, her eyes flashed and she gave me a warm hug. _Wait, what?_

"I missed you so much Fang." _Ohhh._ She started sniffling. Holy crap. Is the great Maximum Ride _crying?_ How's that even possible? Maybe she just has a runny nose or something.

"Missed you too." I whispered back to my best friend.

That moment, while she was hugging me and her face was snuggled in my chest and I was smelling her lavender hair under the stars, made me the happiest I've ever been in 6 years ever since Max left. I wish I could've captured that moment and replay it all the time. It was perfect.

**A/N: Hi you guys! :) I tried to spend a little more time on this chapter so yeah... I'm having a pretty crappy week so sorry if this chapter sounds depressed or something. **

**So... I got a deviantart! Link is on my profile, or just search magicwingsforever (hmm, wonder where that name came from?) up on the top. So far I had uploaded a painting of Minnie Mouse, a random gingerbread man, and MAX AND FANG HUGGING. Yay! That was from Chapter 3/4, remember when they met each other again in school after 6 years? Well, that. Friend me if you have a dA!**

**I'm the Mad Hatter for Halloween. ^.^ I can't wait! What's your guys' costume gonna be?**

**R&R! No cliffhanger (for once lol) this week. Love you guys!**

PS-And if a certain troll with the initials CJS is reading this, gtfo. I'm still pissed at you. So LEAVE.


	8. Chapter 8 Assasination Plots

**Thanks to maxridelover56  
>aquamisfit<br>****blondeforever98 (love ya Rach!)  
>XxFaxness4everxX<br>Crazy Person14  
>LovinTheSun1996<br>and Blackmail. my favourite word for putting me on their favorite story/author list!**

**Special Thanks to Silver M.11 (your review made me laugh)  
>"Hello" (you anon you :)<br>Live Your Life Before It Ends (love your name)  
>maximumridefan11 (thanks for sticking with me)<br>Bandgeekclarinet14 (thanks for not maiming me ;)  
>Black Hawk1234 (thanks for staying with the story)<br>aquamisfit (50th reviewer!)  
>and gleeker67 (I love glee too!) for reviewing!<strong>

Chapter 8-Assasination Plots

**Max POV**

It's really truly unfair that I had so much trouble falling asleep last night. I mean, what's up with that? I was practically yelling at my stupid body to fall asleep, but my mind couldn't stop thinking about everything that has happened yesterday, the first day I returned to Paradise Falls. Meeting Fang again, Dylan the dumbass breaking up with me, Sam asking me out on a date, him canceling on said date… Now, I'm a zombie, just trying to get through my boring classes. Mr. Capoargon is going on and on and on about the baking for this Home Ec class, and I know I should be listening because I can't even make popcorn without almost burning down the house, but I just wanna go to sleep.

Fang just shot me a smirk. Right now, I'm so tired that I don't even have the energy to smile back to my best friend that I haven't seen in years. Yes, I'm a despicable person.

Suddenly, Mr. C announced, "FIND YOUR PARTNERS!" Wait, say what?

Someone poked my back. "Hey, do you want to be partners?" a familiar voice asked.

"Sure Blondie. But just so you know, I'm terrible at cooking or baking or whatever the heck we're doing. I bet I can make plain water poisonous if I touch it." I answered, my voice muffled since I refuse to lift my head from the desk. My soft, pillow-like warm desk. Sam chuckled.

"Tired much?" he joked.

"Just a bit. Tiny, tiny bit." I muttered miserably. Unexpectedly, someone scooped me up off my chair, cradling me against his chest.

"HEY! PUT ME DOWN SAM! This is my no-no space!" I yelled.

"I'm not Sam, smartass." I looked up slowly at Fang's frowning face. _Shit._

"Avan, what are you doing?" Sam demanded, standing there. I squirmed around, awkwardly trying to get out of Fang's arms.

Fang tightened his grip around me. "Just carrying my best friend who looks like she's dead on her feet," he snapped back sarcastically.

"I'm gonna ask you again, Avan. What the _hell _do you think you're _doing_? Need I remind you that I have a _date_ with Max?"

Fang and Sam glared at each other. I sighed, twisting out of Fang's grip. "Quit fighting you guys. As much as I love to see a catfight, you guys are gonna deal with each other and like it. OK?"

Fang grumbled a lot but reluctantly held his hand out. "Truce?"

Sam held out his hand even more unwillingly. "Truce."

Abruptly, the bell for the next class rung. I have gym with Fang next, so I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the door. "Bye Sam! I'll text you later!" I shouted to him over my shoulder. He gave me a cute little wave and went to grab his books.

The second we were outside in the hallway, I turned on my ex-best friend. "What the hell was _that_? You don't just randomly pick me up, Fang."

He raised an eyebrow. "You looked really tired, so I thought that I carry you to the nurse's office so you can sleep." He paused. "Plus, it looked like you were going to be that wiener's partner."

"I _am_ his partner! And be nice to him. He was the first guy to be nice to _me_ when I just got to this school."

Fang smirked. "Knowing your cooking skills, hopefully you can blow something up in his face."

I whacked him. "Quit being a poo-poo head! Be nice. And I'm not _that_ bad at cooking."

"Mature much? And yeah, you are. Worse, actually."

I grumbled at him. "Tell it to the world, why don'tcha? Just be nice to Sam. You never know, I might actually date him."

"God forbid that," Fang mumbled under his breath.

**Fang POV (After school)**

That stupid wiener! I swear, I'm going to beat the shit out of Sam. Here's my amazing diabolical plot…

Find Sam.

Lure him away from his so-called "friends".

Kill Sam.

That's probably the best plan in the history of assassination plans. I'm not even kidding. Why is my awesome Max even _considering_ dating him?

"Hi James! I really think you and me should date, or at least be friends with benefits. Kay?"

I groaned inside. "Um, Lissa, I'm really busy right now. Can you leave?" I started to turn to my locker again.

Lissa pouted. "But Jamie, you _know_ we should go out! How can you resist this?" She gestured to her really low-cut shirt.

I had to try really hard not to snort at that. "One, don't ever call me Jamie again. Two, I don't go out with people like you. Now leave." I grabbed my books, slammed my locker shut, and walked away. Lissa tried to keep up with my long stride like a stupid Chihuahua or something.

"It'll making Max jealous though!" she whined, trying to grab my hand.

"Why would I want to make my best friend jealous? Now LEAVE." I yanked my hand away and practically ran to my next class since I wanted to get away from the increasingly annoying redhead. God, can't people tell when you want to be left alone to plot your evil plans?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam with Max _again_. Like a ninja, I followed Max and hid behind the corner of where they were talking.

"Do you want to go out and see Footloose tonight?" I overheard Sam whispering.

I grit my teeth. _Please say no, please say no, please say no…_

"No, sorry, I have Taekwondo tonight," Max answered back softly.

_YES! Point for Team Fang!_

"That's okay, what about tomorrow?"

He doesn't give up, does he? I decided it was time to announce my presence…

**Max POV**

The back of my neck prickled while I was talking to Blondie. I quickly spun around. "Will you _quit_ that?" I remember how Fang used to always do that when we were kids. It looks like he's up to his old tricks again. He always appeared silently like that, out of freaking nowhere, like a shadow. Fang regarded me coolly, his dark hair messed up.

"Quit what?" he asked calmly. "Breathing?"

"Yeah, go die," I responded. I turned back to Sam. "Sorry, not tomorrow either-"

"-because she's going to be hanging out with _me_." Fang butted in. I swatted at him.

"QUIT THAT!" I hissed in his ear. "Remember, you promised you'll be on your best behavior!"

Fang grunted. "Yes, MOTHER."

I turned back to Sam _again._ "I'm babysitting my sister, so not tomorrow either."

Sam looked disappointed. "Well, text me when you'll be free." Suddenly, he gave me a peck on the cheek. WTF? "Bye!" he dashed away.

Meanwhile, I started hyperventilating. _The kiss means nothing, _I told myself. _He's not going to be another Dylan. _But what if he is? Am I setting myself up for heartbreak all over for the second time? I signed. Suddenly, I felt tired again, like I'm coming off an adrenaline high. I guess, in a way, I was. There's way too much stuff going on right now, and last night I didn't get enough sleep. I need to think this over and analyze this and all that stuff before I can say yes to Sam. I mean, it's not a marriage proposal, but still. I want to go to sleep and maybe this will all be clearer when I go to taekwondo tonight.

The Shadow tapped on my shoulder. "Can we go home now?" he insisted.

"I'm tired." I complained. "I don't wanna walk home."

Fang quickly threw me on his shoulders, but I'm too tired to complain this time.

"Giddyap, Ponyboy." I mumbled before falling asleep on Fang's strong solid shoulders.

**A/N: Hi guys. Sorry I took forever to upload this. In my defense, last week I was bombarded with dodgeballs so I might be a little loopy lol ;). By the way, I would NEVER EVER EVAH not continue this story. After all, it's my first one, and I always finish what I start. **

**R&R! And yay, there's still no Sax yet! I can't say that for future chapters though... Well, love you guys and if you live in the US like me, have a happy Thanksgiving break! Bye!**


	9. Chapter 9 ZzzZzz

**Thanks to xXAustenGirlXx  
>Whitetail24<br>The Angel of Clarity  
>Luxord's Xigbar<br>HeyHeyIt'sEmC  
>Chelsae' Jonnae<br>ShadowhuntingAngel  
>and FaxRideAllTheWay<strong>** for putting me on their favorite story/author list!**

**Special Thanks to Bandgeekclarinet14 (ILY KENZI! and you just wait...)  
>HeyHeyIt'sEmC (Thanks for following me on dA! and I'm clarinet too! :)<br>Whitetail24 (Thanks)  
>LovintTheSun1996 (Here you go...)<br>****MCH (me like pumpkin pie too!)  
>Black Hawk1234 (Thanks so much!)<br>maximumridefan111 (I got killed in dodgeball. Good job!)  
>Live Your Life Before It Ends (Thanks :)<br>gleeker67 (ikr? lol)  
>and gleeker67 (ilysm :) Thanks so much for reading! At first I was thinking-wow did my writing get THAT bad when I didn't see your name) for reviewing!<strong>

Chapter 9-ZzzZzz

**Fang POV**

I've never noticed this before, maybe because I'm not a crazy stalker, but people look a lot more young and peaceful when they're sleeping. Like Max right now. Too bad when she wakes up she's going to under so much shit pressure from Sam and school and moving and everything. Right now, we're sitting on the couch in my house (well, I'm hugging her to my chest) and I'm watching Law and Order while Max is snoring away.

Oh yeah, and we have taekwondo tonight, so hopefully she kept up her amazing fighting skills since I've last seen her fight. Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Max grunted and shifted around from that tiny sound.

"Mayk it schtoppp," she grumbled sleepily. Silently, I grabbed her phone from the couch and looked at the text. Damnit, it's Sam.

"**Heyyy. :) Whats up?**"

I glanced at Max, who had fallen into a deep sleep again. Hmm. An awesome idea sprouted in my head. _She's going to kill me for this, _I thought. _But it'll be better than her going on another date with that wiener._

"It's James. Fuck off." I sent the text.

…

Not really. That's what I SHOULD'VE done though. What I really did was a lot more boring-I just stuffed the phone under the couch pillows so the vibrating won't disturb Max.

I still can't believe Sam actually thinks he has a chance with Max. I mean, Max is awesome, a great fighter, smart (well, not really…), sarcastic, sweet toward Angel, loyal… In contrast, Sam is an idiot, stupid, probably a weakling, a cheater… Max does NOT deserve that creep.

I signed and pushed my hair back. I might as well rest a little myself then, I guess. Law & Order is over (the police caught the rapist-what a surprise) and taekwondo isn't for another two hours. This is as comfortable as it's gonna get. After what seemed like an eternity of cursing Sam and killing/torturing him multiple times in my head, I finally fell asleep.

**Max POV**

Slowly I woke up. "Wharr am II?" I mumbled groggily. Suddenly, my "pillow" vibrated with snickers.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty. Time for taekwondo," Fang said.

Oh/ So I've been sleeping on my ho- I mean, _best_ friend's hard defined chest. No big whoop. Happens all the time.

*Cue awkward laughter.*

"Why are you blushing? Am I just that wickedly dashing?" Fang jibed.

Crap. I'm blushing? Think Max, think! I quickly looked up at his smirking face. His hair was messed up from sleeping too, and he looked tired. Quickly, I buried my face into Fang's chest some more. "Just tired. And don' make me laugh. Wickedly dashing, my ass." I snapped back tiredly.

"Rigght. Keep telling yourself that. I'm sexy and you know it," Fang said.

"Mmhmmm. _Definitely_. Buh-bye, I'm gonna sleep more," I mumbled, sarcasm dripping of my tongue.

Fang abruptly grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away from his warm chest. I shivered a little from the sudden distance. "We have taekwondo in…" Fang checked his phone, "Um, two minutes."

My eyes snapped open. "Shit, two minutes? Fang why didn't you wake me up sooner! And what happened to Angel? And where's my phone? I jumped out of Fang's lap and yanked his arm. "C'mon, get up!"

Fang scoffed. "Um, slow down Maxie. Angel is at a friend's house," Fang explained patiently. He finally got his fat ass (not really) off the couch and grabbed his car keys from the table. (The lucky bastard had turned 16 a month ago and he drive around wherever and whenever.) "We still have plenty of time."

I grumbled and complained,"How is two minutes a lot of time?"

"Taekwondo is only five streets down, stupid," Fang said dryly.

I pouted. "Don't call me stupid! That's a bad word!"

"Hell yeah it is."

I punched him. "Idiot." I looked around quickly before following Fang outside to his car. "Where's my phone by the way?" I questioned curiously.

Fang opened the car door for me. "Somewhere buried in my couch." He shut the door and got in from the other side.

"Why?"

Fang turned on the engine and started to drive to the gym.

"Because of reasons."

"What reasons?"

"Important ones."

"Like what?"

"Like ones that don't matter."

"But isn't it important?"

"No."

"But you just said it was."

"Forget what I said."

"Why? Don't fuck with me Fang. -"

"If I tell you will you quit being a brat?"

"Yeah I'll be on my bestest behavior!" I smiled winningly at Fang. "PWEEZ TELL ME!"

Fang grunted and finally gave in. "You stubborn bi-"

"FANG! TELL ME!"

"I hate you. Fine. Sam was texting you." Fang said emotionlessly.

"Oh. That's _it?_ I thought it was actually important and life-threatening. Why do you hate Sam so much anyways? Is it just an alpha male ego thing?"

Fang snorted. "Ha, you wish. He used to cheat on his girlfriends."

"Maybe he changed." I retorted.

"Maybe he didn't." he countered back. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Aww, thanks Fangles. Trust me-if he does cheat on me, I'll kick his ass into next week. I don't need you worrying." I smiled at him and messed up his hair, which I know he hates. "I don't need my big scary best friend to fight my battles."

Fang shook his head so his hair straightened out. "Don't be stubborn Max. If he cheats on you or make you do _anything_ you don't want to, I will personally hire a team of hit men to kill him for you."

I stared at him. "Violent much? And wow, that was more than ten words! Maybe you're not emo after all."

"Haha. So hilarious Max," Fang responded. "We're here," he added.

I looked out the window. Wow, the gym _really_ hasn't changed in this small town. It looks exactly the same from six years ago. I jumped out of Fang's car and ran into the gym. The inside hasn't changed either. And right next to the door was-

"MASTER KAYLA!" I screamed in joy. The young teacher looked up.

"Max? Is that you?"

"Master Kayla! Yeah! I missed you so much!" I quickly walked up to her and gave her a big hug.

Usually I don't get close to people. Having more people you care about means having more chances that you can get hurt. But Master Kayla was my hero. She's patient but strict, and she molded a little three-year-old into a strong fighting machine. Next to my family and Fang and Iggy, she's one of the few people I trust in the world.

"Honey, you look so beautiful and grown-up! I guess I've always been waiting for that cute 9-year-old to show up in my gym again. So how have you been?" she beamed at me.

"Thanks," I smiled. "I've been great. You know, just surfing and soccer in Cali."

Master Kayla's eyes twinkled. "Did you keep up your fighting skills?"

"Heck yeah! I bet I can still kick Fang's skinny butt into Canada if I have to!"

She laughed. "Oh, you guys were just the cutest! Nick is still one of my best fighters, of course." She looked like she was holding back a smile. "Isn't that right, Nick?"

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms encircled my waist and pulled back. I slammed into a rock-hard chest.

"Yes Master Kayla." Fang said innocently above my head.

"Fang! Stop sneaking up on me!" I scolded. I wriggled out of his arms carefully. For a second, I _thought_ I saw a flash of hurt in Fang's eyes. Then it was gone. Maybe I just imagined it?

Master Kayla chuckled. "Well, it's almost time to spar. I presume you guys want to be partners again like old times?"

Fang and I nodded.

"Good," Master Kayla concluded. She looked at me. "It was lovely seeing you again. Now go into the locker rooms and change!" She turned to the little kids who were sitting behind us silently watching the entire time. I gave them a small wave before Fang pushed me toward the locker rooms.

"Oh crap Fang!" I hissed as I just remembered something. "I didn't bring any clothes!" I was wearing sweatpants from school, which was fine, but I was also wearing my brand new shirt that Angel had forced me to wear. Bambi eyes. What can I say? She threatened me that if I even so much as got a drop of water on it she's going to kill me. So I doubt she'll be fine with me turning it into a sweat rag.

"Hmm. Be right back." Fang dashed into the boys' locker room and came back a minute later holding a black t-shirt.

I looked at him dubiously. "I'm not wearing some sweaty shirt of yours."

Fang grimaced. "Mom had just washed this." He tossed the-what else?-black shirt to me.

"Thanks." With that, I strolled into the girls' locker room.

Around the corner where Fang can't see, I stopped and quickly smelled his shirt.

Dayyumm. There was a faint hint of Fang's woodsy cologne on it and it smelled yummy. Just like him.

Wait. WHAT? What am I doing? Why am I smelling my _**best friend's **_t-shirt for crying out loud? Bad Max!

Sighing, I quickly changed into the black t-shirt. Mhmm. It's so comfy! NO! STOP! BAD MAX!

I sniffed at the lovely shirt one last time before heading back outside.

**A/N: Aww, fax! :) Is that good enough for you Kenzie? Lol jk. Sorry I'm being a loser and updating so randomly. XD Well, that's pretty much it. PM me if you guys want to (since I have no life and I'm bored pretty much everyday) and R&R! I love reading your comments, and you guys make my day. ^.^ Love you guys!**


	10. Chapter 10 Date Pt 1

**Thanks to LaylaLively143  
>ilovewhitetigers<br>Zero'sFamiliar  
>thatonechickMR<br>Readingworm99  
>GamerGirlAnimeLover<br>Insecure-Invisible-Shy-Lonely**

**Unicorn-Avian Girl  
>Tasha133<br>xXManyTacosForYouXx for putting me on their favorite story/author list!**

**Special Thanks to maximumridefan111  
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>Live Your Life Before It Ends<br>Readingworm99  
>f1ymeaway<br>Black Hawk1234 for reviewing!**

Chapter 10-Date (Part 1)

**Max POV**

"You know, I _have_ been exercising in Cali," I said weakly to the guy I'm standing over. He's just sitting there gasping for breath. And hey, you there, reading this! Yeah you, in the gray shirt! Get your mind out of the gutter!

So anyways, I just beat a black belt in taekwondo. Wow, that must be embarrassing. Considering I haven't really practiced in six years and I'm a girl. Ouch.

Master Kayla started clapping. The rest of the class was just sitting there amazed with their mouths open. I even think one little guy was drooling in the back. Only Master Kayla and Fang looked unsurprised.

"You just got lucky, wearing my shirt," grumbled Fang.

"Oh?" I said mildly. "Do you wanna spar now?"

Fang smirked and shook his head. "Some other time. I know you can't resist me. But we have to go home."

I rolled my eyes and quickly glanced at the clock. "Holy crap, it's already 7? I have to get Angel now!" I gave Master Kayla a quick hug, grabbed Fang, and dashed out the door. I jumped into the car and we went to pick up Angel.

5 days later….

We're in Calc class, and Sam is flicking notes at me. I opened one at quickly.

**Hi Max. c: Do you wanna go watch a movie together after school?**

I glanced over at Fang. Lissa was harassing him again and pretty much being a good target for a machine gun. She kept trying to put her hand on Fang's shoulders and he kept shrugging it off. Ha, take that, SLUT. Fang glared at me, screaming silently at me to take him out of this torture.

_Um, sure whatever Sam. _I scrawled distractedly and tossed the note back to Sam.

I started thinking of death plans for Lissa's annihilation. Death by spoons sounds good. They leave interesting marks on one's body. Oh, and what about the old fashioned oops-I-accidently-tripped-you-so-you-can-fall-off-a-cliff trick? Always a classic. Or I can "accidently" try to run her over. Or dip her into a pool of acid. So many possibilities… I was so out of it that it took me a while to notice that Sam had written back to me.

**Really? Okay, I'll be there at 5! **I started blankly at the note. Wait, what the fnick did I write back to Sam? I looked at my almost ineligible scribble. Oh crap. I agreed?

The bell rang just in time. I smiled briefly at Sam before running to talk to Fang.

"Sooooo guess what? I'm going to coffee with Sam!" I blabbered at Fang.

Fang froze, and his jaw tightened imperceptibly. "Why did you ever agree to that?" He asked curtly.

I shrugged. "I was distracted making death plans," I confessed. "Are you mad at me? I know you don't like Sam."

Fang's eyebrows went up. In Fang-language, that's like the same thing as fainting from surprise. "How do you know I hate Sam?"

I gestured vaguely. "You know, you just seem to hate his guts." We got our lunch and went to the cafeteria where Nudge and Iggy were already sitting.

"Hi Nudge. And Iggy," I greeted them. Fang seems to be deep in thought so I left him alone.

"HI MAX!" Nudge said perkily.

"Hey, so Sam asked me out on another date," I said off-handedly, hoping Nudge won't overact.

"OMG ALREADY? YOU GUYS WOULD LOOK CUTE TOGETHER! SO I'M ALLOWED TO DRESS YOU UP LIKE A BARBIE RIGHT? OMGOMGOMG I'M SO EXCITED!"

I winced a little from her high-pitched squealing. "Um, sure, I guess."

Nudge looked like a kid on Christmas morning when I agreed to be her personal doll. "YAYYY! MAX, I KNOW YOU'LL BE STUNNING IN THIS ONE SWEATER I HAVE! SAM WON'T BE ABLE TO TAKE HIS EYES OFF YOU!" She gazed at Fang, who was just sitting there having a glaring contest with his food. "You okay there Fang?" she asked.

Fang's eyes suddenly snapped up. "What? Me? I'm fine! Just perfect. Amazing. Good. Just thinking about… um… soccer moves. Yeah, that's right," he stuttered all in one breath. "We have a big game tomorrow and Aliya is at vacation so… I'm thinking who can replace her…. Yeah… Practice will be hard… right Iggy? Yeah? I'll just go…. Um… yeah…" With that, he threw away his uneaten lunch and wandered away.

Iggy, Nudge and I gaped disbelievingly at Fang's back.

"Holy shit, _it_ can talk? Wow. Get ready the end of the world," Iggy said seriously.

"He's really ticked, isn't he," I sighed.

Nudge was just sitting in stunned silence. "No, maybe he really is thinking about soccer, I guess. I mean, he's our team captain, and we do have a game tomorrow. And we're missing one of our best players, so…"

I perked up. "He's team captain? Maybe he'll let me play for Aliya tomorrow then! I was on a team back in California and I'm pretty good!"

Iggy snorted. "He'll probably do _anything_ to stop you from going on the date. Nudge and I have practice this afternoon, if you wanna come."

Nudge shock her head furiously. "Nope, I need to get Max ready for her date, so I can't come to practice today."

"Why does Fang hate Sam so much anyways?" I questioned, looking at Nudge and Iggy's faces.

After a long period of silence (which I didn't know was possible for Nudge), Iggy finally spoke up. "Well, it isn't my story to tell. Sam and Fang were friends, but then Sam did something stupid and so Fang hates him for it."

"I thought they were getting to be not hate each other again, but then Sam asked you out, and you know how Fang gets really protective, so he hates Sam even more now." Nudge added. "But I think Sam's okay."

I digested this new information. "Okay…" I said slowly. "So Sam did something to make Fang hate him." Nudge and Iggy nodded in unison.

"Let's just forget about Fang for now," insisted Nudge. "so here's what you're gonna wear tonight…."

[._.]

"Just think of it as a fake recon mission, like the ones we did at Iggy's house." Fang leaned against the bathroom door, watching me stare at the mirror.

Nudge had come over after school carrying five big bags of clothes. That's when I should've known to run away. For the next two hours, she persuaded me to try on many outfits with Bambi eyes and chocolate cookies (read as: my kryptonite). Finally, she settled on the "PERFECTEST MOVIE OUTFIT EVAH", which is kinda pointless since we're going to be in a DARK movie theater the entire time.

I'm wearing a gray fuzzy cardigan with a blue flowery cami under it, and of course my usual skinny jeans. Nudge had spent a long time curling my hair into soft waves, then fiercely stuck a pointy sparkly hair band on top. I'm wearing flats since I don't want to break my neck. Nudge was threatening to kill me when I said I'm not wearing pumps, but she finally calmed down when I insisted I will trip and die and lose for our soccer team tomorrow.

"Do you think this is too flashy?" I asked nervously at Fang. Who is back to his normal cheerful (emotionless quiet) self. "No. I'm fine." I answered myself testily.

"You look like you're gonna throw up," Fang noted. "And you're talking to yourself. That's not an attractive trait, I've heard."

"Shut up. I'm _fine_." I said tightly, trying not to freak out. What was I doing? How stupid was I to agree to this again? Maybe I should just cancel. And play COD with Fang or something. Maybe-

The doorbell rang. Fang flashed me a grim smile and headed downstairs. I peeked at my reflection one more time before following Fang downstairs.

I opened the door to Sam's smiling face. I gotta say, he looked pretty dang cute in his plaid shirt and black jeans.

"Hi," Sam said shyly.

"Hey," I smiled back. We were just smiling stupidly at each other until Fang cleared his throat.

"Okay kiddies, go to your stupid date. I'll babysit Angel when she gets home," he grumbled, back to his grumpy alter-ego.

"Thanks Fang." I gave him a quick hug and walked out the door with Sam.

**A/N: Ooooh cliffhanger! Kinda. HI EVERYBODY! This is my last update of the year. UNLESS I make it too 100 reviews. PWEEZ YOU GUYS? *bambi eyes* It would be a great Christmas/New Year's present! So have a great break you guys and I hope it snows in your city! R&R 3 Byee.**


	11. Chapter 11 Date Pt 2

**Thanks to Ilonieka1  
>Amaya Calypso Yuumei<br>Fluffy Bunnies Are So Cute  
>SmexyTacos<strong>

**Evaline Ride for putting me on their favorite story/author list!**

**Special Thanks to Fluffy Bunnies Are So Cute  
>maximumridefan111<br>f1ymeaway  
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>Bandgeekclarinet14<br>and AMAYA CALYPSO YUUMEI (THANKS SO MUCH ILYSM!) for reviewing!**

**This chapter is mostly dedicated to Amaya Calypso Yuumei who reviewed 26 freaking times. I love you girrrrl! ;)**

**Hey you guys, Merry Christmas. And because I'm a horrible person, here's you guyses X-mas present-a chapter about Sax's date. Enjoy! ^.^**

Chapter 11-Date (Part 2)

**Max POV**

As I walked out the door with Sam, I could still feel Fang's eyes glaring at my back.

"So. What movie do you wanna watch?" Sam said shyly.

"I really don't give a crap." I responded elegantly.

We walked awkwardly to his car. During the entire ride to the movies, we talked (again, very awkwardly) about what movie to watch.

"Do you want to watch Breaking Dawn?" Sam suggested.

I winced. Twilight is the dumbest book/movie known to man, in my expert opinion. (No offense to the Twilight lovers out there.) I mean, so this chick Bella falls in love with a sparkly (probably gay) vampire and mopes around after he left. Love triangles are so hyped up.

"Um, maybe something not so.. chick-flick-ish?" I said sluggishly.

Sam stared at me. "Wow. You are _really_ different from the other girls."

I snorted. "Well, love is overrated. _Optimism _is overrated. Reality is definitely better faced heads-on."

Sam whistled in amazement. "So you're no true love freak, huh?"

I shook my head quickly. "Hell no."

Sam chuckled and parked into the space at the mall. "Well, I guess you'd want to watch something like Sherlock Holmes then, right?"

I grinned at him. "Now you're getting it."

We got out of the car and started walking to the movie theater when I saw a familiar strawberry blond head.

"HEY IGGY!" I shouted. Iggy turned around with a sheepish look on his face. "Wow. It's _so _coincidental that I see you here, Iggy," I teased. "Oh yeah. By the way, Sam, this is Iggy. Iggy, Sam." I introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Sam said politely.

"Yeah, whatever, we've met," Iggy said curtly.

"IGGY! Be polite!" I scolded.

Iggy grunted. "Yeah, whatever, _mother._"

My annoyance turned into curiosity. "Why are you here anyways?"

"Um…. I'm not at _all _following you because Fang told me too. Not at _all._ I came here to… um… buy some… purses for… um… Nudge." Iggy stuttered unconvincingly.

"WHAT? Fang told you to _follow_ me?" I hissed quietly at Iggy. Suddenly, I turned to Sam and whispered, "Wait one sec. I have to murder my friend. Meanwhile, buy the tickets for me please? Thanks!" I gave Sam a quick hug and then turned back to Iggy.

"Explain. NOW." I demanded.

"Well, um… hey, did you know that Fang ran our team to the ground today in soccer practice and I have a huge bruise on my ass?" Iggy said, trying to change the subject.

"Why is Fang asking you to stalk me?" I said, not to be deterred.

"Um… well… um…. oh, he wanted to make sure… that…. Um… that you won't… um… get hurt since you're on the team! Yeah, that's it!"

"What? I'm on the team?" I said, extremely surprised. "Fist bump!" We knocked knuckles together, but before I can interrogate Iggy (read as: the worst liar the world has ever seen), Sam tapped on my shoulder and asked, "Well, can we go watch Sherlock Holmes now?"

"Yeah, sure, let's go." I let Sam drag me away. I gave Iggy my you-are-not-off-the-hook-mister-I-am-going-to-kill-you-and-Fang-next-time-so-get-ready-for-Armegaddon glare and went into the dark movie theater with Sam.

During the previews, I wanted to shoot myself from the awkwardness. I was trying to think of something to say (my mad skilllz involve fighting, surfing, soccer, sarcasm, pranking Iggy, detecting liars such as Iggy, killing said liar, but they do not include thinking up charming and witty things to say) when Sam reached over and grabbed my hand.

It actually wasn't bad.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

After watching Sherlock Holmes, (which was AMAZING compared to Dream House), Sam and I went to Max & Erma's to eat together. As I was trying to sip hot chocolate cutely and failing epically, Sam noticed the bracelet Fang gave me. (Yeah, the bracelet with the Air Force wings on it that Fang gave me back in Chapter 1. Keep up with the story, people!) I had refused to take it off, even though Nudge all but used a flamethrower to take it off my arm because "it doesn't match the fashionable outfit I spent hours picking out at ALL!"

"Where did you get this?" Sam asked curiously, and I think, a little jealously. Maybe a wee bit.

"Oh! Fang gave it to me a long time ago, when we were kids. His dad was in the Air Force, so that's why there's wings."

"Who's Fang?"

"Oh, I mean James." I forgot that Sam doesn't know about the stupid nickname I gave him.

"Are you guys really good friends? Do you guys spend a lot of time together?" Jeez, down boy! It's only the first date. There's no need to be so jealous…

"Um, yeah of course we're good friends. I've known him forever." I said truthfully. And then- "Why does he hate you?" I blurted out bluntly, with my usual delicacy and tact.

Sam looked taken aback. "He still hates me? But that was so stupid!"

"What was stupid?" I pressed nosily.

"Nothing important. It's just that he _thinks _I stole Lissa away from him."

My blood ran cold. "Lissa and Fang-I mean, James- used to be together?"

Sam looked at me strangely. "Yeah. Until I supposedly kissed Lissa and supposedly cheated with Lissa on Fang. _Supposedly._ Don't believe anything James say."

"Okayy." I nonchalantly ate my food, but inside, I wanted to throw up. Lissa and Fang used to be a couple? Why didn't anyone tell me? I mean, yeah, of course, I've been gone for a long time, and Fang has his own life, but… why would he date that _slut_? That dumbass Lissa.

"Are you okay?" Sam looked at me worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," I said automatically.

"Sure. So, did you like the movie?"

We talked about random meaningless topics for a while, but my mind kept returning back to Fang and Lissa. Why would Fang go out with _Lissa_? Out of all the people in our school, why did he have to pick the sluttiest? God, sometimes I just don't understand men. Pssh. Who needs them?

Sam's gentle voice broke me out of my stupor. "So do you want to go now? It's getting dark."

"Really?" I looked out the window and was actually surprised the stars are out.

"Yeah. Let's go."

The car ride home wasn't as uncomfortable as the one to the movies. We talked about soccer, my life back in Cali, how Paradise Falls had changed… you know, stuff normal people talk about on normal dates. And it was nice. Sam is the perfect gentlemen, like I had said. He even walked me up to the door.

"Thanks. I had a really good time." I muttered, feeling awkward and at a loss again.

"Me too," said Sam. "You know, you're completely different from the other girls I've met. In a good way," he added.

I blushed. "Thanks." I even giggled a little. And I know what you're thinking: the great Maximum Ride is _giggling?_ Where are the flying pigs?

We were standing really close together. I noticed Sam has a nice smile. He moved even closer to me, put one hand on my shoulder, and the other under my chin. My eyes went wide when he kissed me. Woah. WTF?

And even more surprisingly… I kissed him back. And for a second, everything was perfect. Except… it feels like there's something missing, you know?

**Fang POV**

I watched Max and Sam kiss each other from upstairs. It was a short kiss, but it felt like someone was shooting my heart.

"Fang? You're wrinkling the drawing of Max and you that I drew! Stop!" Little hands pried my fists open. Angel.

"Wait one second, sweetheart. I just need to get Max," I muttered to Angel. "_And kill Sam and rip his heart out and make him eat it,_" I added in my head.

As I walked downstairs, I thought about Max. Why does Sam kissing Max hurt me so much? She can date and kiss anyone she wants. I knew she even had a boyfriend back in Cali. But why does Max kissing Sam hurt so much? Is it because… is it because I'm in love with my best friend?

**A/N: Hey you guys! So, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hoped you guys loved/hated this chapter.**

** Just close your eyes, the sun is going down, you'll be alright, no one can hurt you now, come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound.  
><strong>**^Best. Song. Ever. It's just too beautiful for words. Especially for Hunger Games fans out there. Js.**

**ANYWAYS, R&R and have a great winter break! :D**


	12. Chapter 12 Fangalicious

**Thanks to livelaughloveanddance  
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**Special thanks to FaxRideAllTheWay  
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**HAPPY 2012 YOU GUYS! (Not for me yet though...)**

Chapter 12 (_for 2012!;) -_**Fangalicious**

Max POV

Sam and I broke apart, wide-eyed. "Whoa," Sam said, and I giggled (what is _wrong_ with me?) and nodded. Abruptly, the porch light came on and I saw Angel's big blue eyes staring teasingly and Fang's dark midnight eyes glaring at me. Fang frowned at Sam then walked away from the window.

"Well, you better go. I had a great time tonight."

"Yeah," Sam looked like he was going to kiss me again, but I gave him a small push toward his car. I'm not evil enough to corrupt the innocent (well, relatively) Angel's mind even more. "Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow!" he called over his shoulder.

"Bye Blondie!" I called out to him. He gave me a wave and then finally drove off. The second he turned the corner, the door whipped open behind me and a little ball of blond hair tackled me.

"MAXXXXXXXXXXX!" Angel trilled in my ear rather loudly. She smiled winningly up at me. "Sooooooooo how was it?"

"Great. It was really fun, I loved it," I said automatically. I felt like I was coming off an adrenaline high suddenly. I walked into the house with Angel at my side like an excited puppy. When I strolled into the living room, I noticed Fang sprawled on the couch, and… _Iggy. _The greatest liar the world has ever seen. "YOU," I snarled at him. Iggy looked apprehensive and got off the couch, holding his hands up.

"Hey, calm down Max. It wasn't my fault! I swear! I had nothing to do with anything!" he protested.

I stalked toward him. "_Why_ were you following me?"

"I already told you! Fang wanted to make sure you wouldn't get hurt wince you're on the soccer team and we have a game tomorrow!"

"Yeah. He's right." Fang said quietly from behind me. I whipped around and glared at him.

"I'm not _that_ accident-prone. It's not like I would trip over air." I insisted. Suddenly, I tripped on the coffee table leg and fell onto the couch by Fang. "Ow," I groaned.

"You were saying?" Fang snickered.

"Shut up. Nobody likes you," was my witty retort. Angel jumped into my lap as I leaned against Fang.

"Hey Max! Just so you know Max, I invited Nudge over so we can talk about your daaate," she sang out. I nodded tiredly. "Fine. Yippee." I rubbed my eyes. "Don'tcha think it's a little too late to discuss and psychoanalyze every move Sam made?" Fang made a strangled sound." I know, I'm not looking forward to the Nudge channel either," I agreed. Fang just rolled his eyes and looked away. Out of the blue, one more ball of blond hair jumped into my lap. WTF? _Another one?_

"Hey Max! Remember me? Gazzy? The one who is obviously better at making bombs? And stinkbombs?" Iggy's younger brother looked up at me from my lap. Wow. He has grown a lot since I last saw him. He still has his amazingly bright blue eyes, and he still looked scarily like Angel. But his face has lost some of his child roundness, and he got a lot heavier and taller.

"Hey my little trooper? What's up? And can you please get off my lap? I'm a little tired."

"Yeah, Maxie is really tired from her blinding happy glow she's giving off from her date." Fang added sarcastically. I shot him a look that screamed get-Gazzy-off-my-lap-before-he-shows-us-the-reason-for-his-nickname!

Gazzy grinned at me. "Sure thing Max!" He jumped off my lap… and farted.

"Oh god. Geez. I'm dying." I gasped out when the nauseating smell hit me.

"EWWWW! GAZZY, YOU'RE SO DISGUSTING!" screamed Angel. Gazzy was just standing there proudly, not at _all_ embarrassed. He gave a low bow in response. Ick.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" shrieked Angel before jumping out of my lap.

While she was getting Nudge, Fang whispered," So do you forgive Iggy for stalking you?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Thanks for letting me be on the team, by the way." I added. Fang smirked, but before he could say anything more, a blur of mocha colored skin jumped at me. Oh, come _on! _This is getting old fast.

"MAAXXXXXXXXXX!" Nudge squealed loudly in my ear.

"Hey Nudge."

"Sooooooooooooooooooo…. HOW WAS IT?" Nudge squeaked even louder, if that was ever possible. I looked at her. I don't know how she does it, but she still looks perky with perfect makeup and not a hair out of place even though it's freaking 11 at night.

I glanced over at Fang. He crossed his arms over his chest/" Did it go good?" he asked dryly. As usual, he looked impassive, but I know him so well that I could read the indiscernible twitch of his jaw and the minute tightening of his eyes.

"Yeah. It went great," I answered, still looking at Fang.

"Thant's it? _Great?_ Come on, give me details here, woman! Come on!" Nudge begged/ She grabbed y face and forced me to look at her. "Details. Now," she demanded.

"Well, I like him, I guess," I muttered to Nudge's smiling face.

"So I don't have to kill him," Fang added bitterly. He sounds really pissed. _What can he possibly be mad about now? I thought he already got over his PMS-y fit at school today. I'll confront him about that tomorrow, _I decided. _Fang and his mood swings are really annoying sometimes_.

"Yeah. I'm tired, Nudge. Can we talk tomorrow?" I yawned and laid my head in Fang's lap, who immediately tensed up. "Oh, grow _up._ Nighty-night people."

"Max?" Nudge's voice sounded strange. "Don't you love me?" I glanced over at her and made my mistake…

OK. Here's Max Tip Numero Uno: Don't EVER look at Nude when her voice sounds like that. Because it means she's doing… **THE DREADED BAMBI EYES.** Here's the definition of **THE DREADED BAMBI EYES: **When Nudge makes her eyes really really big so it looks like she's crying and pretty much forces you into doing whatever the heck she wants. There's no known vaccine/protection against it.

Nudge whimpered at me some more. "Please Max? Tell me _EVERYTHING._ Please? I will love you forever and ever!"

Like I said-no protection. I groaned. "Don't groan while you're in Fangle's lap, Maxie. You might get him _excited_," Iggy popped into our conversation and winked at me suggestively.

I swore at him and flipped him off. "Get outta my house, you sexist pig," I growled. Then, I started telling Nudge everything…

*^*^*^*^*^*^*HAPPY 2012^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Fang POV [2 hours later 12:33]

_Why am I still here at Max's house,_ I mused. Iggy and Gazzy had already went home (after Iggy cracked more sexist pig jokes and Max threatened to crack his neck) and Angel is already passed out on the couch. Of course, Nudge is still here, hanging on attentively to every word Max says.

For me, every time Max gushed on and on about Sam felt like a punch to the gut. And every time Nudge and Max giggled and analyzed Sam's actions felt like a slap to the face. But why should I even be jealous of Sam anyways?

How he is nice to Max? Please, he freaking stole Lissa away from me in freshman year. But Max is Max and she can defend herself if they do anything she doesn't want to. I bet Sam was treating MY Max all nice and shit to let down her defenses.

His "HOTNESS?" (Cue squeal from Nudge). Maybe, but there's no way he's hotter than me to Max. NO ONE is. That's not me being cocky-that's just me telling the truth. I'm just fangalicious.

The fact that he spent 3 hours, 18 minutes, and 38 second with Max? Not that I was counting of course. But _I'm_ the one who's spending time with Max right now. Her head is lying on _my _lap, not Sam's so HA.

….

Oh my god. Am I _really_ debating with myself in my head about why I'm better than Sam? Ugh. I'm just as bad as Nudge and Max, analyzing his moves. -.- I have some serious problems…

"And so… yeah… that's what happened," I heard Max conclude weakly. I'm surprised that Nudge hasn't had a heart attack yet from all the squealing she has done tonight. I watched as Max yawned and arch her body to stretch. _Look into her eyes, don't look down further or Max will castrate you, don't look down, keep your eyes up, don't look further down, _I chanted to myself. Hey, I'm sorry, I'm a hormonal guy. Can't help it.

"Done talking yet?" I asked. Even to myself, my voice sounded strained.

Max looked at me suspiciously and Nudge said," Well, I'm tired. And it's midnight, and I don't wanna drive back o my house." Nudge yawned. "Can I sleep over Max?" Max just gave a short nod in agreement. "Yay! Thanks Max." Somehow, Max found the energy to crawl up the stairs to Max's room.

Unfocusedly, Max mumbled, "Tuck Angel in for me."

"Sure." I tenderly slid Max's head off my lap and gently carried Angel up to her room and tucked her in.

"Good nite Fang," Angel drawled sleepily. In return, I gave her a kiss on the cheek then headed back downstairs to get Max.

"Hey Max," I whispered to her limp body on the couch. "You want me to stay and carry you upstairs, you lazy butt?"

Max drowsily swatted at my general direction and held up her arms.

Well. This shouldn't be a surprise she actually wants me (AND NOT SAM) to stay with her overnight. I mean, back then, I used to lug Max's heavy ass up the stairs to her bedroom then pass out next to her because we were so tired from our daily adventures. But back then, Max wasn't tired out from a date with another guy and I doubt the said guy would be happy with me sleeping anywhere near a 5 mile radius of Max.

"It isn't rocket science. Pick me up and get me to my room dumbass," Max grumbled after I debated in my head too long.

Ok. I got this. I gently picked Max up bridle-style and headed up the stairs. "Wow. You're heavy. What have you been eating, rocks?" I said teasingly, wondering if Max still remembers the answer she gave years ago every time.

"Why, is your head missing some?" Max retorted without missing a beat.** (A/N: MOST OVERUSED QUOTE IN MR FF-BUT IT'S SO CUTE AND FAXYY! 3) **

I chuckled then dumped Max unceremoniously into her bed." Are you sure you want me to stay?" I said under my breath, half hoping Max didn't heard me.

"Of course," I heard Max's quiet answer. She burrowed under the covers and quickly fell asleep.

I signed and surveyed her room. Nudge was asleep on the couch next to Max's bed, and there were still a million unpacked boxes everywhere. I gazed over at the sleeping Max.

_Damn_. How does Max still looks so beautiful even though she's sleeping? That douchebag Sam does not deserve her, as I've said a million times before. I slowly got on the bed by Max's feet and layed down, thinking about Sam and Max.

_That asshole Sam_…I thought back to his betrayal…

[Freshman year]

"Heeyyyyy," I looked down and saw a redhead staring up at me. She winked at me with bright green eyes. She was wearing a really low cut shirt that day, and I could see down her shirt. Completely. She was also wearing a black miniskirt that showed off her long tan legs, and I gotta admit, she looked sexy. A slut, but sexy.

"Yeah?" I answered, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously.

She bit her lip. "Hi! I'm Lissa! And you're hot. Do you wanna go out?" she said abruptly. Suddenly, Max flitted across my mind, but I shoved that thought aside. _She's not coming back_, I reminded myself. I'll do anything to distract myself from memories of Max back then. "Sure," I finally agreed. For some reason, I felt like I was betraying Max, which is ridiculous, considering we were never together. I _used_ to have a really tiny crush on Max, back when we were kindergarteners. But that's it. I grew out of it.

"Great!" Lissa said perkily. Suddenly, she leaned up and kissed me full on my lips and stuck her tongue in my mouth. I fought back the urge to gaga. For Christ's sake, I just agreed to go out with you! You don't need to go slut-mode on me yet! I wanted to throw up in Lissa's slimy disgusting mouth, but that's frowned on in most cultures. Finally, I pushed Lissa away and-

Max shifted around, bringing my attention back to present day. "Stopp thinking yur emo thoughts and goo to sleep," she muttered fuzzily, half asleep. With that, Max dropped back to sleep.

I snorted and closed my eyes. "Dictator Max," I retorted under my breath. Hoping I won't need a cold shower in the morning, I drifted off into a deep sleep.

**A/N: Hey you guys! So, this chapter was 2000+ words for the people who wanted longer chapters. ^.^ Thanks for reviewing you guys. Your comments inspire me to write longer. 3**

**And since you guys seem to like the song lyrics I did last time, here's another one...  
>Take my hand, I'll teach you to dance. I'll spin you around, won't let you fall down. Would you let me lead, you can step on my feet. Give it a try, it'll be alright. 3 I love He Is We.<strong>

**Well, again, HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope you guys have a good 2012. And I hope that you guys liked this chapter. R&R and byeeee :D**


	13. Chapter 13 Old Crushes

**Special thanks to The Goddess in ur closet  
>f1ymeaway<br>SSammey  
>Black Hawk1234<br>PurpleWings71  
>Amaya Calypso Yuumei<br>Live Your Life Before It Ends  
>Tasha133<br>musiclovebookssushianimals16  
>and Unicorn-Avian Girl for reviewing!<strong>

**Chapter 13-Old Crushes**

**Max POV**

I woke up the next morning feeling like crap. "Ugghhhh," I moaned. How did I even get into bed last night? All I remember is yapping to Nudge about my date with Sam and then drifting off to sleep on the couch. Everything after that was a blur. I think… was it _Fang_ that carried me up here? Wait… if he _did_ get me up here… then where the fnick is he now? I sluggishly lifted up my head and surveyed my room. Nudge was passed out on the ground, but all Fang left behind was a heap of messy blankets at eh end of my bed.

"Fang?" I whispered out into the morning stillness. "Are you there? Alive? Or dead?"

Right on cue, my door creeped open and in walked Fang looking like he owned the place. "Yes, Madam Max?" he arched an eyebrow.

I looked him over and winced. Dayyyuuumm. He was looking pretttty hot this fine morning. It looks like he has just taken a shower because his raven-colored hair is still wet. He was wearing a (what else?) black flannel shirt and black jeans that fit him very well, I might add. I gotta admit, he looked like a freaking model, especially in comparison to me and my disheveled bedhair.

"Why are you looking at me funny?" Fang suddenly asked, breaking me out of my daydreaming. _Just checking my best friend out. Nothing special. _Well, that's what I wanted to scream. Instead, I calmly said "nothing" like the normal-not-hormonal-teenager-i-am. "You can get me food though, Fangles. I wanna eat," I added randomly.

Fang chuckled. "Sure, sure. I have nothing better to do anyways." He yawned and stretched. I tried not to peek at the sliver of defined abs that showed when his shirt rode up. But of course, I failed abysmally. _NO! BAD MAX! NO CHECKING OUT FANG, EVEN THOUGH HE HAS YUMMY ABS. _Fang shot a quick grin at me, and I don't care how cliché it sounds, but when he smiled at me, it was like the sun was coming out. "You wake Nudge up and I'll make some pancakes. Don't want you poisoning all the food." He smirked at me and walked downstairs.

Sighing, I slowly rolled out of bed, and being the loving and affectionate and graceful friend I am, I started kicking Nudge awake. "Hey. Nudge. Wake. Up," I said, accentuating each word with a light kick.

"Mhmm." Nudge squirmed and burrowed into the blankets some more.

"Come on Nudgie. Wake up."

"Noope."

"Wake up."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Get up or I'm gonna take a picture of you RIGHT NOW and text it to Iggy!" I threatened.

With a sharp shriek, Nudge's fuzzy head popped out of the covers. "You WOULDN'T," she glared at me.

Okay, so maybe I wouldn't actually send the picture. But dear Nudge doesn't know that. With an evil grin, I snatched up my phone from the table. "Say cheese," I sang out before quickly snapping a picture of Nudge with her messed up hair and no makeup.

Nudge gaped at me. In my head, I silently started the explosion countdown. 5…4…3…2…1….

"MAAAXXXX!" Nudge screamed loudly. I think at the very end, her voice got too high for regular humans to hear. The next door neighbor's dog started barking loudly at the exact same moment. Coincidence? I think not. Case in point, Nudge was really, really, REALLY pissed off at me. With a snarl, she jumped up and ran toward me, looking murderous.

Cackling evilly and holding my phone in the air, I danced away from Nudge and ran downstairs. "GIVE IT!" yelled Nudge as she chased after me. Grinning, I dashed into the kitchen and jumped on Fang's back.

"You know, a simple 'hey' or 'hello' would work," Fang murmured as he continued to flip pancakes.

"Yeah, but this is more fun! And look, I got Nudge to wake up," I said proudly. Nudge stalked into the kitchen, looking deranged. "Watch out, Fang. Nudge is looking deranged," I noted.

"I told you to kindly wake her up, not start World War 3," Fang complained irritably under his breath.

"Psssh, same thing," I shrugged. I tossed Nudge my phone. "Now that you are awake and fully functioning, you can delete your picture right now," I allowed.

Nudge gave me one last glare and pressed down on the touchscreen. "Umm, Max, which one is the delete bu="

"**Your message has been sent to Iggy,"** my phone rang out.

Nudge stood there, shell-shocked. "Oh. My. God. Did I just send that to Iggy?" Her voice ripped through three octaves on the last word because of her anger.

"Shit." I said quietly.

"I concur with that statement," echoed Fang.

"Fang, protect me from Nudge, 'cuz she's gonna kill me, kay?"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, MAXIMUM SOMETHING RIDE!" Nudge chucked my phone hard across the room back at me. I think that she was trying to hurt me, but the fact that a cell phone isn't a deadly projectile combined with my fast reflexes just made me catch the phone easily.

"Hey, look! Iggy texted back!" I said with surprise. Nudge sprinted next to Fang and I. I opened up the text. "'Guess what's my new wallpaper now? WINKY FACE. Ps-you look hot, as usual.'" I read. "Aww, that's so cute and sexist pig of him."

"OMG, Ikr? Iggy is the bestestestestest boyfriend EVAH!" Nudge gushed, already over her little tantrum. "Sam BETTER be treating like that."

I literally felt Fang tense up (since I was still on his back). "Calm down, Fang. Hey, is the food ready?" I asked, changing the subject.

Fang gave me a curt smile. "Bon appetite." I smiled and slid off Fang's back. At that moment, my mom came downstairs with Angel, who was all decked out in her pink finery.

"Oh, hello!" my mom said, surprised. "And you are?" Angel quickly ran to Fang and hugged his knees.

"James. I was Max's friend before you moved?" Fang said politely.

The understanding lit up in my mom's eyes. "Oh, _James_. I remember you now!" she examined him closely while Angel Nudge and I snatched some pancakes and started eating. "Oh my, James, you've grown so tall! And handsome!"

Fang shrugged. "So I've been told," he said airly.

"By who, your invisible friends?" I retored, unable to resist. Angel giggled.

"Now now Max, be polite," Mom chided. "And Fang, you can help yourself to anything you want at my house. Same goes to you…" Mom looked at Nudge.

"Monique. But you can call me Nudge! I'm Iggy's girlfriend!" Nudge supplied. "It's very nice to meet you!" she said perkily.

My mom smiled at Fang and Nudge. "Well, I see that my daughter has good friends that won't let her burn down the house with her cooking. I gotta run to work now." She gave me and Angel hugs and waved to Nudge and Fang. "Bye! And Fang, tell Mrs. Kelly I said hi!" Mom left the room in a hurry.

"OMG, your mom is really nice and pretty! Just like you!" Nudge praised.

"Ha. Nice? BS." Fang muttered.

I elbowed him, cuz I'm so _nice_ like that.

"Max, can I plan out your outfit today? Pretty please?" Nudge interjected.

"Oh no you don't. You've had all your fun last night."

"Yeahhh, but you owe me for taking that picture!" I groaned. I thought she was just gonna forget about my little blackmailing. Dang it.

"Ugh. Fine. BUT. You're only gonna use stuff in MY room. And no skirts or tights or really embarrassing low cut shirts, mkay?"

Nudge pouted. "Yeah, but that doesn't give me anything to work with though! For Christ's sake woman, 99% of your closet is t-shirts!"

"E_XAC_tly. I'll just wear a random t-shirt then! It will be fine! The world isn't gonna end."

Nudge gasped in horror. "NO, it will certainly NOT be fine! And the world will DEFINTELY end! I need to pick out the PERFECT after date outfit for you!" Nudge paused for a second in thought. "And Fang, why the heck didn't you comb Max's hair _before_ she went to sleep? It's a freaking mess!"

Fang snorted. "Umm, maybe because I'm not gay and I don't notice stuff like that?" he questioned rhetorically.

"SSSsh. Just shut up, Fang." Nudge looked at the clock. "Ok, so we have an hour before school starts. Max, hurry up and comb your hair! Fang, help me pick out an outfit," Nudge ordered.

"I… rather not," Fang said slowly. "Um, I gotta go home because I have… um… soccer strategies to plan. Yeah, that's right." With that, Fang just got up and left me all alone with the fashion-deranged Nudge.

Shoot me now.

For the next hour, Nudge forced my hair into an "artfully messy bun". Actually, to me, it just looks messy, but Nudge insisted that it looks adorable, plus it kept my hair out of my eyes, so I kept it in.

In my unpacked room, Angel and Nudge discovered a secret box that didn't have any of my old stuff in it. Instead, it turned out that JJ, Natalie, Kayla, Rachel and my other friends in Cali had put together a box full of inside jokes and pictures of us (including the dickwad Dylan) and CLOTHES. I guess that they had secretly slipped that box in with all my other stuff so I would have a surprise. Nudge has squealed in joy that I actually have non-t shirt clothes and I cried for ten minutes remembering all the good times I had in Cali. *Sigh.*

I texted all of them a long message of thanks and then became a MaxBarbie for Nudge. Here are the things that had the Nudge Stamp of Disapproval for an "after-date outfit":

…

NOTHING.

Which meant I had to try on countless outfits. You'd be surprised at how many clothes could've fit in that normal sized box. FML.

FINALLY, with just minutes left to spare, Nudge settled on this light blue v-neck with dark streaks and white ripped jeans. Angel had already left with Gazzy a long time ago, so Nudge and I had to drive to school with Fang.

As we got our stuff for school, Nudge started blabbing about meaningless topics. I was just listening to Kiss It Better when suddenly-

"Hey, Max, did you know that Fang used to have the _BIGGEST_ crush on you when you guys were little?"

I froze in my steps. "What?" I asked, my voice a little strained.

"Yeah, seriously. I mean, even if you guys go out now, you make the _cutest_ couple." She paused. "What, you didn't know about it?"

I started walking again, stunned. "Um, of course not, well, we were just friends!"

Nudge chuckled. "Maybe to you…"

"How do you know?" I asked, trying not to sound too curious.

"Well, he was always talking about it. Whenever we were hanging out with Fang, the only time when he would talk was when he was talking about you. He'd always be like 'do you remember that girl I told you about? Max? The one I used to have a crush on? Well, she liked this' or 'she liked that'."

I kept on walking, my eyes averted. "Well, do you know when he… you know… grew out of it?"

"I'm not sure," Nudge said thoughtfully. "It was before I knew Iggy. I'm pretty sure it was in high school when he went out with Liss-"

"Heyy ladies. Need a ride?" smirked Fang from his car as he pulled up next to the sidewalk.

"Speak of the devil," Nudge said under her breath.

I guess I looked a little shaken still though, because Fang was looking at me with a little concern.

"It's nothing," I mouthed at him. I got into his Escape and we drove to school.

… After School….

I kicked the soccer ball effortlessly and it flew into the goal. "26 out of 26. How extraordinary. Can we go now?" Fang grumbled.

"Are you _sure _you have played in Cali, Max? 'Cuz that's just freaking amazing. Like, you make it look soo easy! I know it's a lot harder though. Speaking of hard, did you know…"

I tuned her out and shot another goal. "SCOREEE!" I screamed.

"You've said that 26 times already," Fang impatiently. "The game was over like an hour ago. Can we just go home now?"

By the way, the game was surprisingly _easy_ to win. I haven't been playing soccer for a long time, so I forgot a lot of the rules. Which meant I got fouled. A lot. Hey, fun fact of the day-do you know that you're technically not allowed to trip someone and then punch them because they knocked you over first? Just saying…

But even with all the penalty shots the other team got, our team, the PANTHERS (HOO HAA HOO HAA WHOOO) won easily, 17-5. Even after everyone left, laughing and cheering, Fang, Iggy, Nudge and I stayed behind to shoot goals. Well, I did. Nudge and Iggy were just here to suck face without being caught by Gazzy. Fang is here because he's my bestie. I'm here… well, because it's relaxing to exercise!

But then again, I do have a shitload of homework and Angel is probably waiting for me at home. Plus, even though I don't act like it, I was a wee bit tired from practice.

"Fine," I finally said to Fang. "Let's go home."

**A/N: Soo…. Sorry for not updating sooner. I know it's no excuse, but I had a bunch of midterms in school. -.- A little bit of fax in this chapter! C:**

**SONG OF THE CHAPTER….  
>Take my hand, I'll teach you to dance,<br>I'll spin you around, won't let you fall down,  
>Would you let me lead, you can step on my feet,<br>Give it a try, it'll be alright.**

**COOKIES TO WHOEVER CAN NAME LE SONG! If I take too long to update (sorry in advance), go check out my drawings on www (dot) magicwingsforever (dot) . I drew a bunch of stuff for the Hunger Games, different songs, MR, etc**

**Here's YOUR to-do list.**

**1-REVIEW.  
>2-SMILE.<br>3-DO WHATEVER YOU'RE PROCRASTINATING ON.  
>4-GIVE YOURSELF A PAT ON THE BACK.<br>5-THEN SMILE SOME MORE. :D**


	14. Chapter 14 DancingA Dangerous Pastime

**Special thanks to: Unicorn-Avian Gril,  
>Tasha133,<br>Black Hawk1234,  
>PurpleWings71,<br>boxtoplad999,  
>bughailz,<br>KittyKatKaramal,  
>Phoenix,<br>Bebe17,  
>Insecure-Invisible-Shy-Lonely,<br>Random Dude At Your Service,  
>GoddessofNature11,<br>Hate is a strong word,  
>f1ymeaway,<br>iheartblueconverse for reviewing!**

**Chapter 14- Dancing;A Dangerous Pastime**

**Max POV**

"Hey babe," Sam quickly kissed my cheek.  
>"Sam! We're in school, so quit with the PDA," I teased, blushing a little. Okay, maybe a lot.<br>"So whatcha doing?" Sam asked cutely.  
>"Um, what do you think I'm doing?" I asked rhetorically, gesturing at the soccer ball at my feet and my teammates and an angry Fang striding toward me.<br>"No, I mean what are you doing tonight?" he clarified.  
>"Oh! Nothing, I guess. Just hanging out with Fang and the others. Why?"<br>"Well, I was wondering if you wanna go see _Women In Black_ with me tonight," he smiled.  
>"Why, of course, Sam dear! <em>Women In Black<em> absolutely splendid, and I would positively _love_to go see this wonderful movie with you! We shall have a delightful time! I'll see you then!"

As you've probably guessed, I did not say that because I'm not a gooey classy boyfriend addict like Nudge. Here's what I did say: "Hell-"  
>"No." Fang interrupted. His voice sounded passive, but I've known him long enough to be able to hear the anger brewing behind his words. I turned my head, giving him a classic Level 7 glare. (In case you're wondering, I have different level glares, from 1-mild, only slightly upset, directed at Angel, to 10, really freaking pissed off, murderous, directed a douchebags, sluts, and the occasional Fang when he disagrees with me.)<br>"Fang, what's up? In case you haven't noticed, I'm talking to Sam, so can you wait a second and not interrupt me?" I hissed at Fang.  
>Fang didn't even look at me. He was glaring at Sam, the only part of his face that showed his feelings. "We (he grabbed my waist and suddenly pulled him against his body) have really important things to do tonight."<br>"Like what?" Sam challenged, beginning to get pissed.  
>"Yeah, what the hell is soooo important?" I struggled to get out of Fang's strong grip but he just held me tighter.<br>"We have a game right now, in case you didn't notice," Fang said coldly. "Noob," he said under his breath.  
>"I meant after the game."<br>"Team party."  
>"After that?"<br>"Sleep."  
>"Fang!" I stomped on his foot. "I'm sorry to stop this testosterone war of yours, but like you said, we have a game and the halftime is almost over!" I growled at him. I turned to Sam. "Hey, I'll talk to you later," I said apologetically. I quickly pecked his cheek. "Bye Blondie."<br>**Fang POV**  
>I looked away in disgust as <em>my<em> Max kissed Sam. Honestly, what the heck does she see in that creep? The second he turned his back and left, Max pounced on me (not like that, you perv. I wish.) and started smacking me. Not that her punches hurt, of course.  
>"What is your freaking problem,?" she demanded when she was done with her little temper tantrum.<br>"What?" I said, feigning innocence. Max just glared at me angrily. "Fine, fine. Sam's a dick, you know?" Max's chocolate eyes were shooting daggers at me. Oh shit. _Operation Blame the Enemy (OBE): FAILED. Begin Operation Guilt Trip (Hereby referred to as OGT).  
><em>"Come on, Max. We have a party tonight, 'rember?"  
>Max gave a curt nod. "Skipping it."<br>My eyes widened infinitesimally in mock surprise. "So you're ditching your team who grew to love you in just three months? Not very good sportsmanship there, Maxi."  
>Max scowled hesitantly. "Sam's my boyfriend though."<br>"And your team is _your team_. This is the next to last game of the season. You won't see them that often anymore. Come to the party, Max." Max bit her lip. _Come on, come on, ditch Sam, come on…_  
>"Fine," she finally gave in reluctantly. The whistle that signaled the end of the break sounded and we jogged onto the field. "Damn Fang and his damn guilt trips," I heard her mutter as she ran to her spot.<br>(Insert evil sadistic laughter here)…_Operation Guilt Trip-SUCCESS!  
><em>

* * *

><p>It all went downhill from there.<br>Near the end of the third quarter, Max got tripped by one of the other team's players. Normally, that's not a problem. She would've just gotten up and swore at the offender and maybe get a yellow card in the process. But at the same time, another player tried to take possession of the ball. And, unable to stop his momentum, ran right on to Max's exposed ankle with his cleat, Max's usually expressionless face twisted in a grimace of pain. Without thinking, I shoved the player guarding me and sprinted to Max's side. Shit. Shit. Shit.  
>Max's eyes were squeezed tight with pain, and blood trickled from her ankle, where the cleats punctuated her skin. "Hey, Fang," Max grunted, slowly opening one eye. "I'm fine, really, I'm fine," she winced. "Just give me a moment and I'll get up." I waited for Max to get up. People were starting to whisper in the bleachers, and Sam the dick was already heading down to the field to help his "damsel in distress". Finally, after what felt like eternity, Max whispered, "Help me stand up". I offered my shoulder, and she threw an arm over it. Slowly, we rose, with Max putting almost all her weight on me. "Kay," Max grunted. She released her hold and tried to stand up with both feet, and failed. Gasping with pain, her ankle buckled and she dropped down. Before she can hit the ground, I quickly grabbed her waist and supported her. Max let out an almost silent gasp of pain. I glanced sharply at her, but she waved it off. "I'm fine," she insisted. Damn her stubbornness.<br>"Ref, I'm taking her to the hospital. Continue the game." He gave a quick nod and gestured to start the game. Quickly, I grabbed Max's legs and carried her, bridal style, to my car.  
>"This must be new, looking at me with concern," Max joked.<br>"Ehh, sure, sure," I responded absent mindedly. I watched as Sam the dick struggle to get through the crowd. As a result, I jogged even a little faster to my car, being careful not to hit Max's injured ankle.  
>"Tell the team I'm sorry I can't make it to the party," Max said as an afterthought.<br>"Whoa, Max is having a guilty conscience about ditching people? Holy shit, the world is ending," I muttered.  
>Max laughed weakly. "Haha, hilarious, Fangles. You could be a freaking comedian."<br>"Thanks, I try." I glanced over my shoulder and saw Sam right behind us. Damn.  
>"Hey, Fangles, I think I feel better now. Let me do-"<br>"Max!"  
><strong>MAX POV<strong>  
>I heard Sam's voice shout from behind Fang's back. "Fang, stop jogging," I ordered.<br>"No, I gotta get you to the hospital," he said, his face suddenly a mask again.  
>Suddenly, Sam ran in front of us and pushed Fang's chest back. "Yeah, stop, James. And why the hell are you carrying <em>my <em>girlfriend?"  
>"Because she's <em>my<em> responsibility as team captain and she's _my_ best friend, so fuck off," Fang silently.  
>I could literally feel Fang's chest (which is hard as rock under his shirt, btw) tense up. "No Fang, he's right. It's fine. Help me get down," I said tiredly.<br>Fang responded by holding me even tighter. Mhmmm. Dang teenage hormones.  
>"Max, come on. <em>I'll<em> drive you to the hospital," Sam insisted. "You don't need to pity Fang for being forever alone."  
>Defensiveness flared up in me. "Fang is my friend since birth. I choose to be his friend, not out of pity," I spat out, "but because he's a good guy." Sam opened his mouth to talk, but I kept on talking. "What about we just drive to the hospital together in Fang's car? It's right there, and my ankle hurts, so let's go," I compromised.<br>Fang looked at me incredulously. "You mean, I have to drive that son of a b-"  
>"Yeah, you do. Now let's go."<br>Sam stilled looked unhappy. "At least let me help you."  
>"Fair enough," I said. "Come on, let me down Fang," He looked like he was gonna argue, but I shot him a glare that said "we'll talk about this later, you little squirt". (Not that he's little of course.)<br>Fang rolled his eyes, and gently eased my legs to the ground. I winced a little, but Fang didn't notice because he was glaring at Sam, and Sam was glaring at Fang. I sighed, hopped to Sam, and threw my arm around his shoulders. When the heck is this macho war gonna end?

* * *

><p>"Fang, quit being possessive, jerk," I whispered as we sat in the doctor's room, waiting to get my X-ray results. Sam had left a while back, claiming he had to babysit his sister Lissa, Funny, I thought his sister's name was Jenny. Oh well.<br>"I'm not doing anything. Plus, he started it."  
>"What are you, eight? Stop antagonizing Sam. You know nothing is his fault?"<br>"I do?"  
>"You should. Quit annoying him, please?"<br>"I didn't see you complaining when you were cuddling against me," Fang smirked.  
>My mouth fell opened. "I did not <em>cuddle<em> against you. I just needed to get to the hospital, and my ankle hurts so you carrying you was faster!"  
>"Dennniaaalll."<br>"Fang, would you rather me let Sam, a kinda stranger still, carry me instead of you, my best friend:  
>Fang's face took on a pained expression. "I was just joking you know. Chill, Max." I stuck out my tongue at him. "Who mature now?" Fang muttered. We talked for a little longer until the doctor came in with my X-ray.<br>"Well, looks like your ankle is twisted. I recommend that you wear a brace for the next two weeks. After that, come back here for a checkup. If it healed right, you may take the brace off and you'd be fine. However, let me warn you. Do not do strenuous exercise in the next month, or you will risk permanently injuring your ankle." Dr. Suchyta warned. ***A/N: I've never been to the hospital for any injuries because I'm a boring person. So I made that part up based on what my friends told me. ***  
>"Ok, thanks doc. Can I wear the brace now, or..."<br>"Yes you may. I'll send a nurse to help you put it on, and I hope you have a good day, Ms/ Ride. And stay safe." With that, Dr. S left the room.  
>"Well, looks like no soccer," I frowned as we walked to the car. "Damn."<br>"Soccer's almost over anyways, so you won't be missing much," Fang reassured half-heartening. He paused. "I guess if you want, you can be co-captain for me, so you're technically still contributing to the team, and you can order people around. I know you love that." He smirked at me.  
>I considered it.<br>Pros (insert cheesy smile-ly face here)  
>1.) Bossing people around-hell yuss.<br>2.) Helping the team  
>3.)Would look good for college<br>4.)Work with my best friend  
>5.)Get to watch hot guys on the team with an excuse<br>Cons (insert cheesy frown-y face here)  
>1.)Less time with Sam.<br>Yeah, I'm gonna take the job. "Yeah, I'm taking the job," I said to Fang. "How hard can it be?"  
>Fang chuckled. "Famous last words…let's get ready for the team party. In case you care, we won."<br>"Go panthers!" I said automatically. We got out of the car and walked into my house.  
>"And the party didn't end yet, so if you want, we can still go."<br>I briefly thought about it. "Sure, let's go."  
>Fang chuckled again. Wow, he's becoming quite the jolly person. Laughing twice in a conversation? Must be a new record! "Um, Max, did you look at the mirror lately?"<br>"Um, no, why?"  
>Fang smirked. "See for yourself."<br>I ran into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and groaned. "I look like hell."  
>"I concur with that statement," Fang agreed.<br>My hair was falling out of its ponytail and it looked like a bird's nest. I didn't have time to change, so I was still stuck in my mud-stained soccer uniform. I was limping because of the unfamiliar brace, and one leg of my shorts were ripped when that guy cleated me.  
>"What kind of party is this anyways?" I said distractedly, straightening my hair.<br>"Semiformal. We're going to that really fancy restaurant on 9 mile, remember?"  
>I made a face. "Blegh. Do I have to dress up?" I complained.<br>"If you want to pig out at the restaurant," Fang retorted.  
>"Well, when you put it that way..."<br>_'tUpdateInAMillionYears(AMonth)IDecidedToContinue…  
><em>

* * *

><p>I limped to Fang's car and got in. Fang's eyes widened at me, then said, "Wow, I didn't know you can turn your ugly monster face into something society accepts."<br>"Nice to see you too Fangle! There must be a compliment buried there somewhere… You don't look so bad yourself," I said, trying not to sound biased.  
>Fang is more leaner than others our age, but his abs are to die for. Err, scratch that. What I meant to say is that Fang looks hot-err, I mean-acceptable by society. Fang was wearing a (what else?)black dress shirt with a brilliant white tie.<br>"Hey, we match," Fang noticed. I looked at myself in the rearview mirror and laughed. "Yeah, we do."  
>I had to put my hair in a messy bun (the one Nudge taught me) and put a tiny bit of makeup on to bring out my boring brown eyes. I was wearing a ruffly strapless black dress that went above my knees. It had a white sash on it, kinda like Fang's white tie.<br>"Like my shoe? _Tres fancy, _right?" I put my feet on the dashboard and wiggled them. I was wearing my annoying brace on one foot, and then my black converse on the other.  
>"Yeah. Very fancy. Guess what my shoes are."<br>"Old man shoes!"** *A/N:Inside joke with my friends in the real world. Yeah, I have a life.* **I instantly shouted.  
>Fang glanced at me, then back at the road.<br>"Not formal shoes…"  
>I leaned over to look at Fang's shoes and realized he was wearing black Converse too. "Wow, we really do match. They say 'great minds think alike…'"<br>"And then there's us," Fang answered with laughter on his face. We both laughed at our old joke then got out of the car and walked into the restaurant where all my teammates rushed at us and fired a million questions at us about what happened on the soccer field. We ate quickly, and finally it was time for us to dance.  
>Now, let me just tell you this: I don't dance. (HSM FLASHBACK EVERYONE!) Anyways, yeah, I may look graceful on the field. But if you're not careful, I might accidently take someone's eyes out while dancing. But then Gazzy asked me to dance. And one does not simply refuse to dance with an adorable 10 year old. Especially when he complimented you on your ass kicking shoes.<br>So, of course, I danced with Gazzy. And one thing led to another until I was swaying slowly to the beat with my arms around Iggy.  
>"Hey Maxie. How's life?"<br>"Oh, yanno, same old same old."  
>"Good." We danced (or in my case, shuffle side to side) to Mayday Parade for a little longer in silence, and then Iggy casually asked, "Do you like Fang?"<br>I froze. "What do you mean?" I asked slowly.  
>"I mean, do you like him as more than a friend?" I started to shake my head, but Iggy kept on talking. "I know Sam's your boyfriend, and I'm honestly happy for you too. He's a decent guy." Iggy paused for breath. "But don't you like Fang too?"<br>"Friends dating never work out," I said automatically.  
>Iggy shrugged. "Maybe they will, maybe they won't. But I do know he used to be heads over heels in love with you. And from the way I've seen him act around you lately, I think there's a possibility… that he still loves you, but he's just to stubborn to admit it…."<br>I looked at Iggy's serious face. "Um, who died and make you Dr. Phil? Chill out, I'll sort it out."  
>Iggy suddenly smiled again. "Just don't break his heart," he said jokingly.<br>"Okkaaay then…" I said awkwardly. "I'm gonna find Fang and get away from your Dr. Phillness. Bye."  
>"Give him a kiss for me!" Iggy joked as I walked (read as: ran) away from that lunatic.<br>"Atta guy Iggy. Back to your pervy self. Great!" I shouted back. Suddenly, an arm reached out and grabbed my waist and I let out a shriek. "RAPE!" I screamed.  
>A familiar husky voice murmured, "Chill Max. It's just me."<br>"Oh. HI FANGLES!" I shouted perkily.  
>"What were you talking about with Iggy? You looked tense," Fang said curiously.<br>"Oh, that? Oh, we were just talking about what we should get Nudge for her birthday." I lied convincingly.  
>"Then why were you so tense?"<br>Damn Fang's lie detector eyes. "Um, the light probably messing our faces. I'm completely relaxed, Completely."  
>There was only a fleeting hint of doubt in Fang's eyes, and then it was gone. "May I have this dance?" he asked politely, with a hint of sarcasm.<br>I looked away. _Holy shit. What if Iggy was right about the whole lovey dovey stuff with Fang? Crapcrapcrapcrap. CRAP BURGER! _You know what? F all this. I'm gonna dance with my best friend and it won't be awkward AT ALL.  
>"Sure. But I won't be held responsible for any damages," I warned.<br>Fang smirked. "Are you planning there to be any damages?"  
>I shrugged. "Knowing me, there probably will be."<br>Fang shot a full-blown smile at me. "I'll risk it." With that, he grabbed my hand and put the other on my hip.  
><strong>And baby, everything that I have is yours,<br>You will never go cold or hungry.  
><strong>"Definitely, you little piggy," Fang joked. We spun around some more.**  
>I'll be there when you're insecure,<br>Let you know that you're always lovely.  
><strong>"That's going a little too far," I said. "Acceptable to society, maybe."**  
>Girl, cause you are the only thing that I got right now<br>****One day when the sky is falling,  
><strong>"CHICKEN LITTLE!"**  
>I'll be standing right next to you, right next to you.<br>Nothing will ever come between us,  
><strong>We smiled at each other. "BFFLS FOREVER!" I smirked.**  
>I'll be standing right next to you, right next to you. <strong>**  
><strong>Fang spun me around, and I felt like I was flying.  
>Okay, Max. Time for a little pep talk about your feelings:<br>I felt safe with his arms around me. I love the smell of his cologne. I can read him like an open book. I know his every quirk, his every strength. His jokes always manage to cheer me up. His smiles light up my world. His support means the world to me. And as I listen to a gushy love song, I guess I can just ask myself one question that Iggy's talk made me think about more: _am I falling in love with my best friend?  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OOoooh, cliffhanger! (kinda) Hey guys! :) Sorry sososososososo much I've been MIA for so long. I can make a million excuses (****got accepted to my first choice high school! Organized a dance! Lost the spelling bee because of a distorted microphone! Had to give back a first place medal! Got 3 medals for band geek Solo & Ensemble!)**** but I know that doesn't cut it. So, I wrote this extra long chapter so you guys won't throw stuff at me virtually. Yay!  
>Oh yeah, so the song is "Next to You" by Justin Bieber, and no, I'm not a fangirl, but the cover of that song by Luke Conrad and Megan Nicole (not together) is AMAZING and that's what I listened to while writing this.<br>Also, if there's any Hunger Games fans out there, go see the Hunger Games Parody by WINTERSPRINGPRO on Youtube. It's hilarious, and the guys in it are hot, so that's an extra bonus! (I got my teacher to show it to the class ;)  
>Bye guys! Remember I love you all and the reviews. I know it's cliché, and everyone says this, but your reviews inspire me, they really do. Thanks so much. VIRTUAL FISTPOUNDHIGH FIVE!  
>PS—HI! THIS IS CHRISTINA'S BESTESTEST FRIEND EVAH, KAYLA! AND I JUST WANNA SAY THAT 36****IS HER BIRTHDAY, SO WISH HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY! AND PLUS, SHE DIDN'T KNOW I WROTE THIS BECAUSE IM A NINJA AND I ADDED THIS WHEN SHE ASKED ME TO UPLOAD THIS FOR HER. SO YEAH!**


	15. Chapter 15 Decisions decisions

**Thanks to IggyIsAwesome13,  
>BlackHawk1234,<br>f1ymeaway,  
>bebe17,<br>urwrstnitemare,  
>theuglyswaninlove,<br>unicorn-avian girl,  
>boxtoplad999,<br>shovel of doom,  
>xbestthingyouneverhadx,<br>friendship-is-awesome,  
>peetamellarkxstar4163,<br>fluffy bunnies are so cute for reviewing! :)**

**Chapter 15-Decisions, decisions**

**Max's POV**

Oookay. Big big big decision time. Do I like Fang?

Yes. I do.

Shit. When did this happen? When did I fall in love with my best friend that _should_ be like a brother to me? For god's sake, I'm dating Sam! Oh shit. Sam. What should I do about him? Ugh. Decisions, decisions. And I have to remember what Iggy said-I can't break his heart. How's _that_ for pressure? What to do….

"So, what life-changing decision did you make?" said Fang, starling me out of my doom and gloom thinking.

"Whhaaa? No, I'm fine," I said quickly,

"You look kinda pinkish," Fang noticed.

"Oh, yanno, just being an alive human, that's all."

Fang looked at me closer and I averted my eyes. "Are you sure you're not blushing because of my badass dancing moves?"

I laughed then looked at his feet so I can get my emotions under control. Note to self-you are not some tweeny kid who just saw her crush. You have known this guy for 10 years. Now STOP BLUSHING!

Another song came on that was more upbeat. "Let's go eat," I grabbed fang's tie and pulled him to the buffet area. "You do know I'm not a freaking dog, right?"

"Dogs have fangs, your name is Fang, ehh, what's the difference," I said, trying to act normal. I looked at the buffet table. "Look at all this yummy food!"

"Wow, so the little Maxie is eating all the food. How nice," I heard a sadly familiar nasal voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do I smell annoying beyotch around here?" I spoke to Fang. He just gave me a Max-play-nice look.

"Hi Lissa," Fang said emotionlessly.

"Heyyyy Jamie, wanna dance with me?" Lissa purred. I stifled a gag with difficulty.

"Nahh, I'll pass," Fang responded.

"You sure? People tell me I'm rather… good at dancing." _That's it pal!_ I got ready to snap out an insult, but Fang, sensing my tense muscles, put a head on my shoulder, holding me back.

"No, I'm fine, Lissa. I'm just grabbing some food with Max."

"Aww, how sad. Maybe later?"

Fang just shrugged. Lissa turned to me. "Oh, and hun, stop throwing yourself at poor Jamie here. Your flirting attempts are so pitiful, it's almost cute. So just stop." I gaped at her widely.

"Okay, one, don't call me hun. Two, you're the one practically begging to dance with you. Three, I have Sam, so why would I be flirting with someone else? I'm not a complete slut, unlike someone here. Four, stop insulting me and get a life. I'm sure they're just a buck fifty at Wal-Mart, so get yours now!" I smiled at her sweetly, ignoring the way her words stung. Hey, who says 'Maxie' can't lie and keep a poker face?

She just cackled like a witch. Oh wait, she is one! "Hun, you think you can keep Sam? Cute."

"Don't. Call. Me. Hun. C'mon Fang, we're leaving." I grabbed his tie and yanked him away.

"Not a dog, remember?" he muttered, yanking his tie away. "Let's just go sit by Iggy and Nudge."

"Oh, so he talks. Way to defend me, buddy boy."

"What did I do now? And can you stop trying to pick fights with Lissa? She's not as mean as you make her out to be, honestly. She's actually kinda nice sometimes."

I gasped at him. "Fang, are you filling your 100 word quota for the day trying to convince me to lay off Lissa? Fang, she's EVIL!"

Fang just gave me a you're-being-overdramatic look. I gave a silent sigh and quickly hobbled ahead to sit between Nudge and Iggy so I won't have to talk to the traitor. Damn leg brace.

"Hey Max. What's up?" greeted Iggy, showing no indication that he just put a shitload of pressure on me from the talk we had.

"The sky."

"Haha, so funny. Really though."

"Lissa."

"Care to explain?"

"No. Ask Fang. He's Lissa best buddy now."

"What's going on Fang?"

"Nothing. Max is just being stubborn," said Fang objectively.

"Well, that's normal," observed Iggy, ignoring my angry glare.

"How about overdramatic?"

"Eh, something you see on a daily basis," Iggy shrugged.

"STOP TALKING ABOUT ME! I'm right here!" I stage whispered.

Nudge looked at me with concern. "Max, is Lissa being mean again? Well, I guess sometimes she can be cruel and a backstabber heartless bitch. But we all know that. That's old news. She's never up to _anything _good."

Fang spoke up again. "Why do you hate her so much? She hardly bothered us last month. So just… chill about her."

"Fang, I intensely dislike her. End of the story." I glanced at the time. "I should get going. The party is fun and all, but I'm getting tired."

"Fine, let me find my keys." Fang made to get up, but I shot him down. (No, not literally, even though I really wanted to at this point.)

"Thanks, but no thanks. Sam's coming." I took guilty pleasure when I saw a spasm of hurt fly across Fang's face. Then it was gone, replaced by indifference.

"Fine."

"Fine." I slowly stood up, being careful with my brace. I limped away to the front entrance and called Sam. "Hey Sam! I'm feeling tired, and I wanna go home. So can you please drive me?"

"Sure babe. Hey, is your leg feeling better? And weren't you with James?"

"Yeah, it's feeling fine. And yeah, but he's staying."

"Okay then. Where is it again?"

"That one restaurant by 9 mile."

"Okay, got it. I'll see you in a bit! Bye Max!"

"Bye." I hung up, contemplating the day's events. Let's see. I banged up my ankle, then had a standoff with Sam, my boyfriend, and Fang, the guy I'm secretly in love with but also my best friend, then I went to the hospital, then I had to wear that stupid dressy outfit, and THEN I realized that I was in love with said best friend. Wow, this day is just getting better and better. Why is life so damn complicated sometimes? A strong wind swooshed by, and I shivered in my thin dress. Well, I might as well wait for Sam in the warm building. Dejectedly, I hobbled back inside. Fang was nowhere to be found, and Iggy and Nudge are practically eating each other's faces, so I went by the buffet table. I still didn't eat yet, and messing up my ankle and dancing for another hour can really take a lot out of me. I grabbed some chips and was just heading to get some pop when suddenly I heard my name. (**A/N: For you non-Michiganians out there, pop=soda, like Pepsi or Mountain Dew or whatever.) **

I glanced around at groaned. Damnit. It's Fang and _Lissa_, the princess slut herself. I quickly ducked into the bathroom next to the table (or as quick as someone who's wearing a big honking leg brace can) and peeked out carefully. Shit, they're coming closer! I went into the bathroom some more so they can't see me, but still close enough that I can hear them. Because of my weird hunched-back position, I got a strange look from an old lady.

"She's just _so_ annoying, you know? Max thinks she's the best at _everything_, but she's obviously not."

"Lissa, she's my best friend. Don't talk crap about her." _Attaboy Fang!_

"Why are you even friends with her? Seriously, you can do sooo much better."

"She's been my friend since kindergarten," Fang said a little harsher. "If you're going to be my girlfriend, you gotta accept that." _Wait, say WHAT?_

They stopped talking after Fang talked, so I thought they had left. Cautiously, I peeked my head out… and got my fucking heart broken. Why? Because I saw my worst enemy and my best friend kissing each other like there's no tomorrow. Giving a short gasp, I ducked into the safety of the bathroom again.

What the fucking _HELL? _Oh god. No, no, NO. I slid down on the disgusting bathroom floor, and the lady looked even more concerned. "I'm fine," I mouthed, fighting to hold back tears. My instinct to run away is overwhelming. So… I dashed away like the little coward I am. I hobbled away as fast as I could through the other exit and out into the parking lot. Which is pretty damn fast if I wanted it to be. Okay, this day just got a helluva lot worse. Not only is Fang not attacking Lissa because of her insults, but he's also _dating_ her? Excuse me while I go barf in a corner.

My phone suddenly buzzed in my shoe (dresses don't have pockets, so where else can I put it?) and I read the text. "Hey Max. I'm by the front entrance. Where are you?"

"I'll be there in a second," I instantly texted him back. After sending it, I just held my head in my hands for a minute, trying to stop hyperventilating. If Sam sees me like this, all shaken and teary-eyed, there will be an endless barrage of questions, and I will lose my rep as an emotionless rock, which is a big no-no.

Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Okay. I started walking back to the front entrance, being careful to stay away from the restaurant windows so no one can see I'm still here. When I finally limped to the front entrance and saw Sam's big SUV, I slowly climbed in and we drove home…

**Fang's POV**

Lissa stuck her tongue in my mouth, making me almost gag. Jeez, back off the slut attack. When she was done practically raping my mouth, she grabbed onto my arm with her claws-I mean, fingers. Ugh. Why did I say yes to her again? She has a clinginess level of 11 out of 10, and she flirts with every male on the planet. Sure, she has a hot body, but still. Ick. I guess all this is like de javu in a way. Just as long as it doesn't end the same way as last time- with me catching her, let's just say, overly friendly to Sam. Sam has Max, which I'm not excited about.

And speaking of Max: how the hell am I supposed to break the news of me dating Lissa to her? She's convinced that Lissa is a bad person. I mean, Lissa has her cruel moments, but same with every other teenager on this planet! I guess what I'm saying is that I'm giving Lissa another chance.

I let Lissa lead me back to the dance floor. She started jumping up and down and flirting with me, even though I'm pretty much already her boyfriend, but I was too distracted to really notice. There is a very tiny part of me that kinda wanted Max… jealous, I guess. Like she made _me_ jealous with self. Probably not on purpose, but still. Fine, goddamnit, I'll admit it- I'm heads over heels in love with my own best friend. HAPPY? Now that I admitted it (well, even though it's in my head), it felt like there's this heavy weight lifted off my shoulders, like I don't have to pretend anymore. Well, there's nothing I can do about my confession of love right now, because A-Lissa, my "girlfriend", keeps trying to shove her damn chest into mine, B-we are both dating other people right now, and C-the most important one-that BEST FRIENDS DATING EACH OTHER NEVER WORKS. Gal and Katniss (**A/N-Gale ftw! How about you guys?**), Jacob and Bella, Fred and Daphne, etc. Okay, that last one came out of nowhere. The point is that friends dating never work out.

The least I can do is form a diabolical plan to break Sam and Max up. Bwhahahahahaha. *Cue lightning and thunder and haunted house music.* Let's see…

I can get Iggy to build a bomb and put it into Sam's SUV. Nahh, that won't work, too illegal.

I can go with my original plan of stabbing him to death with a spoon. But no, that won't work. Too much blood turns on Max's motherly side. Poo.

I can plant c4s (a type of bomb) around Max's house that will only detonate when Sam comes by. I'm sure Iggy will help with that. Ugh, that won't work either, what if Sam and Max were walking back to her house together? Kaboom goes Sam, but kaboom goes Max too. That ain't gonna fly.

I yawned. This assassination stuff is tough shit. Plus, I'm tired from dragging Max's lazy ass to the hospital and back and then to the restaurant.

Without paying attention to Lissa, I just wrenched my arm out her clingy grip waved bye to Nudge and Iggy, and walked out of the door. The second I got home, I collapsed on my bed and immediately fell asleep.

I had a strange dream. In my messed up dream world, Max was a beautiful chocolate-colored eagle. Lissa was this annoying eel. I think I was a black hawk or something. Anyways, in my dream, Max kept on trying to eat the eel, but I kept on blocking her with my wings. That went on for a while, and then a volcano erupted. When the ash was gone, all I saw was the eel. It had became really large and grotesque. Finally, it gave a loud burp, and you can see a chocolate-colored feather fly out of the eel's mouth. And then I, the black hawk, ate the eel. It tasted like waffles. And then the eel started talking from my belly. "Wake up Fang, wake up, wake up Jamesssss…"

**A/N: Hey guys. :) Sorry I haven't updated in more than a month. SOWWY! Sooo, how's your day? And if you saw the Hunger Games, what's your favorite scene? Today I met Broadway star Elijah J and got his autograph and a picture with him! :D **

**R&R people! ^.^ FIST POUND/ HIGH FIVE!**


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